Axial Chirality around N–P Bonds Induced by Complexation between E(C6F5)3 (E = B, Al) and an N‑Phosphine Oxide-Substituted Imidazolinylidene: A Key Intermediate in the Catalytic Phosphinoylation of CO2

Complexation-induced axial chirality around an N–P bond occurs upon the predominant coordination of the N-phosphinoyl group in the N-phosphine oxide-substituted imidazolinylidene (SPoxIm) to B­(C6F5)3. (Ra) and (Sa) atropisomers of (κ-O-SPoxIm)­B­(C6F5)3 were observed independently in the single-crystal lattice and the optimized gas-phase structure. Experimental and theoretical studies confirmed that this axial chirality arises from the restricted rotation around the N–P bond, caused by the steric repulsion between the C5–H atoms of the imidazolinylidene ring and the C6F5 rings on the B­(C6F5)3 unit. Conversely, this axial chirality was not certainly observed via the complexation between SPoxIm and Al­(C6F5)3. The carbene carbon atoms in (κ-O-SPoxIm)­E­(C6F5)3 (E = B, Al) remain sufficiently nucleophilic to react with CO2, and the phosphinoylation of CO2 with SPoxIm proceeds far more rapidly in the presence of a catalytic amount of Al­(C6F5)3 than in the absence of Al­(C6F5)3.