The deprotonation of N‐di‐tert‐butylphosphanyl‐N‐aryl‐N′‐diisopropylformamidinium salts led to a new type of stable acyclic N‐phosphanyl‐diaminocarbene (PADC). Carbenes 8a–8d were separated as single compounds. The molecular structure of 8c was determined by X‐ray diffraction analysis. The PADC 8 possess an optimal substitution pattern at the nitrogen atoms, and the N–Ccarbene–N bond angle is 120.7°. Structural changes near the carbenic carbon atom, such as substitution of phenyl with mesityl, phosphanyl with selenophosphoryl, or the diisopropylamino group with 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidino, rendered them unstable. The PADCs underwent N,C‐phosphorus shifts to afford new C‐phosphanylformamidines.

Complexes of palladium(II) with newly disclosed, N-phosphanyl acyclic diaminocarbene ligands are synthesized for the first time and structurally characterized. The ligands coordinate palladium(II) in a chelating fashion, yielding remarkably stable complexes which can be stored without special precautions in the solid state. Related palladium(II) complexes with an isomerized chelating ligand, formed upon 1,2-migration of the phosphanyl group from the nitrogen to the adjacent carbon atom, have also been isolated in some instances and structurally characterized. The complexes efficiently act as precatalysts for Suzuki coupling reactions of aryl chlorides, where their productivity compares favourably with that of related palladium complexes with acyclic diaminocarbene ligands. In addition, the complexes show a distinct tendency to form as the byproduct the reductive homocoupling product of aryl chloride. This observation, together with ad hoc performed control tests, suggests that Pd colloids are involved in the formation of catalytically competent species.

N-Phosphanyl-N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCPs) featuring a saturated imidazolin-2-ylidene or tetrahydropyrimid-2-ylidene ring have been synthesized and characterized. The free carbenes exhibit good stability and can be stored in the solid state for months at ambient temperature without decomposition. Contrary to imidazoline-based NHCPs, which decompose by ring opening, N-phosphanyltetrahydropyrimid-2-ylidenes isomerize to 2-phosphanyl tetrahydropyrimidines upon heating. The free carbenes are capable of acting as chelating ligands toward palladium(II), forming very stable mononuclear complexes that have been structurally characterized. The catalytic potential of the complexes has been preliminarily assessed in cross-coupling reactions, most notably in the Suzuki coupling of aryl chlorides, where these complexes display promising activity, and in the copper-and amine-free Sonogashira coupling of aryl bromides.