N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Supported Cuprous Phosphaethynolates and Their P-atom Transfer

Abstract Low-coordinate Cu(I) ions play an important and varied role in organic synthesis, including the reduction of Michael acceptors and catalysis of azide–alkyne cycloadditions. The phosphaethynolate anion (i.e., PCO–) has similarly found a growing role as a P-atom transfer reagent. The convergence of these two topics, while rare, has been reported and has shown disparate results and reactivity. Herein, we report a pair of 2-coordinate Cu(I) phosphaethynolate complexes and their capacity to deliver a P atom, generating PH-capped imidazoles.