Stereomutation and apicophilicity of diastereomeric spirophosphoranes (10-P-5)

The apicophilicity for a series of monodentate groups were determined by deducing activation parameters of equilibration between diastereomeric spirophosphoranes bearing a Martin ligand and a modified Martin ligand. The equilibration was shown to be an intramolecular process and the order of apicophilicity of the groups turned out to be OMe≈H>COMe≈SMe>NMe2>Me>n-Bu on the basis of activation enthalpy. The involvement of π-conjugation type interactions was revealed by X-ray structures of symmetric analogs bearing COMe (acceptor) and NMe2 (donor) groups.