Phosphorus, arsenic and antimony complexes of the main group elements

The Narrow Synthetic Window for Highly Homogenous InP Quantum Dots toward Narrow Red Emission

Low-toxicity InP-based quantum dots (QDs) exhibit potential for replacing Cd/Pb-containing QDs in the visible and near-infrared regions. Despite advancements, further improvement relies on synthesizing homogeneous InP QDs to achieve a high color purity. In a commonly employed two-step "seed-mediated" synthetic approach, we demonstrate the high sensitivity of InP seed sizes and size distribution to the quantities of trioctylphosphine (TOP) and tris(trimethylsilyl)phosphine [(TMS)3P], attributed to the process of "self-focusing of size distribution" and enhanced reactivity of In-oleate through coordination with TOP. During growth, the processes of size focusing and defocusing are modulated by the accumulation of oleic acid and TOP molecules, as well as the amount of (TMS)3P in the growth precursor, which may relate to the dissolution process of InP magic size clusters. Through precise control, the best valley/depth ratio of InP QDs was 0.52 at the first absorption peak at 571 nm, resulting in luminescence with a full width at half-maximum of 35 at 620 nm with an absolute photoluminescence quantum yield around 90% after heteroepitaxial growth with ZnSe and ZnS shells.

Synthesis and reactivity of cyclo-tetra(stibinophosphonium) tetracations: redox and coordination chemistry of phosphine-antimony complexes

Reductive elimination of [R3PPR3]2+, [11(R)]2+, from the highly electrophilic SbIII centres in [(R3P)3Sb]3+, [8(R)]3+, gives SbI containing cations [(R3P)Sb]1+, [9(R)]1+, which assemble into frameworks identified as cyclo-tetra(stibinophosphonium) tetracations, [(R3P)4Sb4]4+, [10(R)]4+. A phosphine catalyzed mechanism is proposed for conversion of fluoroantimony complexes [(R3P)2SbF]2+, [7(R)]2+, to [10(R)]4+, and the characterization of key intermediates is presented. The results constitute evidence of a novel ligand activation pathway for phosphines in the coordination sphere of hard, electron deficient acceptors. Characterization of the associated reactants and products supports earlier, albeit less definitive, detection of analogous phosphine ligand activation in CuIII and TlIII complexes, demonstrating that these prototypical ligands can behave simultaneously as reducing agents and σ donors towards a variety of hard acceptors. The reactivity of the parent cyclo-tetra(stibinophosphonium) tetracation, [10(Me)]4+, is directed by high charge concentration and strong polarization of the P-Sb bonds. The former explains the observed facility for reductive elimination to yield elemental antimony and the latter enabled activation of P-Cl and P-H bonds to give phosphinophosphonium cations, [Me3PPR'2]1+, including the first example of an H-phosphinophosphonium, [(Me3P)P(H)R']1+, and 2-phosphino-1,3-diphosphonium cations, [(Me3P)2PR']2+. Exchange of a phosphine ligand in [10(Me)]4+ with [nacnac]1- gives [(Me3P)3Sb4(nacnac)]3+, [15(Me)]3+, and with dmap gives [(Me3P)3Sb4(dmap)]4+, [16]4+. The lability of P-Sb or Sb-Sb interactions in [10(Me)]4+ has also been illustrated by characterization of heteroleptically substituted derivatives featuring PMe3 and PEt3 ligands.