Direct and Scalable Electroreduction of Triphenylphosphine Oxide to Triphenylphosphine

The direct and scalable electroreduction of triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO)the stoichiometric byproduct of some of the most common synthetic organic reactionsto triphenylphosphine (TPP) remains an unmet challenge that would dramatically reduce the cost and waste associated with performing desirable reactions that are mediated by TPP on a large scale. This report details an electrochemical methodology for the single-step reduction of TPPO to TPP using an aluminum anode in combination with a supporting electrolyte that continuously regenerates a Lewis acid from the products of anodic oxidation. The resulting Lewis acid activates TPPO for reduction at mild potentials and promotes P–O over P–C bond cleavage to selectively form TPP over other byproducts. Finally, this robust methodology is applied to (i) the reduction of synthetically useful classes of phosphine oxides, (ii) the one-pot recycling of TPPO generated from a Wittig reaction, and (iii) the gram-scale reduction of TPPO at high concentration (1 M) with continuous product extraction and in flow at high current density.