(Biphenyl-2,2′-diyl)di-tert-butylphosphonium trifluoromethanesulfonate

To aid in the elucidation of catalytic reaction mechanism of palladacycles, we found that reaction of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid with a phosphapalladacycle resulted in elimination of the palladium and formation of the title phospholium salt, C20H26P+·CF3SO3 . Selected geometrical parameters include P—biphenyl (av.) = 1.801 (3) and P—t-Bu (av.) = 1.858 (3) , and significant distortion of the tetrahedral P-atom environment with biphenyl—P—biphenyl = 93.93 (13)° and t-Bu—P—t-Bu = 118.82 (14)°. In the crystal, weak C—H...O interactions lead to channels along the c axis that are occupied by CF3SO3 anions.