Triphenylphosphine

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A white crystalline organophosphorus compound with three phenyl groups attached to a phosphorus atom, widely used as a reagent in chemical synthesis
2. An organic chemical consisting of a phosphorus atom bonded to three benzene rings, commonly employed in laboratory reactions to reduce or couple molecules
3. A phosphine compound in which three phenyl groups surround a central phosphorus atom, valued in organic chemistry as a versatile reagent and ligand

Etymology: Triphenylphosphine is a systematic chemical name, not a word with an older history, and its parts explain it. "Tri-" means three, "phenyl" is the name of the C6H5 ring group (itself built from "phene", an old name for benzene, plus the suffix "-yl" for a radical), and "phosphine" is the parent compound PH3, named by analogy with "amine" and related nitrogen compounds. So the name simply describes a phosphorus atom carrying three phenyl groups. The compound is a white crystalline solid widely used as a reagent in organic synthesis. Its chemistry rests on the phosphorus atom's lone pair of electrons, which lets it act as a nucleophile and as an oxygen acceptor, most famously in the Wittig reaction and the Mitsunobu reaction, both of which are named after the chemists who developed them.

Synonyms: triphenylphosphane