Studies towards the synthesis of a chiral primary a-phosphinoalkanamine la are reported. 0-Activated, N-carbamate-protected phenylalaninol 3a did not undergo S, reaction with KPPh, : instead, after N-dcprotonation, intramolecular substitution led to formation of the aziridine derivative 5a (Sdirmne 2). N-Phthalimido-protected, 0-activated phenylaloninol 3b also underwent an intramolecular process on treatment with KPPh,, i.c., an unusual aryl-acyliminium cyclization furnishing the (epoxymethano)isoindolo[l,2-cr]isoquinolinone 7 (Schcinc~ 3). In it reaction with KPPh,, the N,N-dibenzyl-protected and activated phenylalaninol3d finally yielded the intermolecular S, reaction product 2a (Schemr4). However, debenzylation by catalytic hydrogenation turned out to be iinpossible.Introduction. ~ Asymmetric C,C-bond-forming reactions are of great significance for the synthesis of optically active compounds, and towards this goal, the application of chiral transition-metal catalysts has become a flourishing field of research. Chelating phosphine ligands are particularly suited for the coordination to late transition metals due to their n-acceptor character, and the preparation of chiral representatives from the readily available starting materials of the chiral pool is an attractive and popular strategy. For example, Kumada and coworkers [I] have introduced the N,N-dimethyl-cc-phosphinoalkanamines ( = p-(dimethy1amino)alkylphosphines) of the general type 1 (Scheme I ) , which originate from natural cc-amino acids, and which have been shown to be highly efficient ligands for catalytic asymmetric Grignard cross-coupling reactions applying Ni" or Pd" [2]. In our eyes, the synthesis of analogues like l a bearing a primary-amine function seemed to be also an attractive goal. The latter ligands were planned to be applied in our projects on transition-metal-catalyzed Michael reactions [3]. Moreover, the presence of the primary amino group should also allow an application as a chiral auxiliary, e g . , after amide or aminocarbene complex [4] formation. A retrosynthetic