Red phosphorus gets a green light

Abstract

When it comes to making phosphorus compounds, chemists have traditionally relied on white phosphorus, P4, a tetrahedral-shaped allotrope of the element. The downside with white phosphorus is that it’s toxic and flammable. Red phosphorus, an air-stable amorphous oligomeric allotrope, is a safer alternative. But chemists have had difficulty processing the relatively inert material in large quantities without resorting to high temperature and strong reducing agents. Florida State University chemists have now solved that problem by discovering an easy way to convert red phosphorus to soluble polyphosphides (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201511186). Alina Dragulescu-Andrasi, a postdoctoral researcher in Michael Shatruk’s group, explained in San Diego how the team simply passes a solution of inexpensive potassium ethoxide in an organic solvent through red phosphorus under mild heating to produce P5 –, P16 2–, and P21 3–. These variously sized clusters, which the researchers isolate as potassium ...