Dipole carbanions stabilized by phosphorus-based functional groups have received very low attention. We are exploring the capacity of the phosphinamide moiety to be regiospecifically tuned towards benzylic deprotonation. The P-N cleavege could provide free amines, serving as versatile intermediates in organic synthesis. One of the on-going projects is employ this methodology towards the preparation of 1,2-aminoalcohols, and a-, b-, or g-aminoacids.

Phthalocyanine complexes of Fe(II), FePc’s, are attractive molecules for the development of optical sensors for detecting NO2 and CO in gas samples. We are currently investigating the role of the substituents (amines, phosphines …) in the stability of the resulting octahedral low valent iron molecules, together with their application in homogeneous catalysis.

The structural flexibility of phosphinamides make these substrates as excellent ligands for transition metals. We are currently exploring the coordination properties of neutral, mono- and dianionic phosphinamides against transition metals and applying the resulting stable complexes as catalysts in multicomponent carbon-caron and carbon-nitrogen reactions.