The accuracy in the calculation of 31 P NMR chemical shifts in the series of the simplest phosphines, phosphine oxides, and phosphine sulfides was estimated in terms of the Hartree-Fock self-consistent final perturbation theory and density functional theory with different basis sets. The best agreement between the calculated and experimental data was achieved at the DFT/B3LYP/IGLO-III level of theory.NMR spectroscopy is one of the most important experimental tools for studying steric and electronic structures of molecules. In this connection, development of theoretical methods for the calculation of NMR parameters, in particular chemical shifts, becomes significant. Such methods could provide invaluable help both in assignment of signals in the spectra of complex organic molecules and determination of their structure and in conformational analysis, configurational assignment, studying intra-and intermolecular interactions, and prediction of the reactivity of organic compounds [1,2]. The present communication opens a new series of our theoretical works on the calculation of NMR shielding constants (chemical shifts) of nuclei in organic molecules at a high level of modern quantum chemistry.At present, most studies concerned with calculations of magnetic shielding constants make use of approaches based on the density functional theory (DFT) which ensures fairly good results for 1 H, 13 C, and 15 N chemical shifts of natural compounds [3, 4] and organometallic complexes [5,6]. These results are very useful for studying tautomeric equilibria and proving formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds [7,8]. On the other hand, calculations on shielding constants of nuclei belonging to the third and higher Periods of the Periodic Table, e.g., 31 P, were reported in a few publications. Nevertheless, the available data attract considerable interest, taking into account exceptionally broad range of variation of phosphorus chemical shifts (up to 500 ppm) and important structural information that could be obtained therefrom. Analysis of various factors affecting the accuracy of calculation of δ P values for organophosphorus compounds was performed only in some recent studies [9][10][11]; in particular, comparison of different electron density functionals, basis sets, and methods for consideration of gauge invariance.In the present work we estimated the accuracy in the calculation of 31 P shielding constants (chemical shifts), depending on the calculation method (level of theory) and basis set (primarily its size and flexibility) for effective and appropriate use of these parameters in stereochemical studies on organophosphorus compounds. As subjects for study we selected nine simplest organophosphorus compounds of different natures: phosphines R 3 P (I-III), phosphine oxides R 3 P=O (IV-VI), and phosphine sulfides R 3 P=S (VII-IX) containing methyl, ethyl, and methoxy groups on the phosphorus (I, IV, VII, R = Me; II, V, VIII, R = Et; III, VI, IX, R = MeO).All calculations of 31 P chemical shifts were performed for the most favora...