Hot-atom synthesis of tritium-labeled mixed methyl-phenyl phosphonium derivatives

The hot-atom method has been used with tritiated phenyl cations and organic phosphines to synthesize tritiated mixed methyl-phenyl onium derivatives of phosphorus. The replacement of phenyl groups by various numbers of methyl ones in the initial phosphines and correspondingly in the phosphonium compounds has provided a means of examining the effects of stearic and electronic factors on the formation of organic onium phosphorus derivatives. The yields are given for the phosphonium derivatives produced by heterolytic decomposition of labeled diphenyl; the relative reactivities of the phosphines have been determined together with the stabilities of the substituted phosphonium cations