phosphorus chemistry

The Phosphorus Chemistry Division was founded in 2019 and currently has around 250 members. It brings together and highlights the activities in the field of phosphorus chemistry, which are strongly represented in Germany and Europe. Although not directly anchored in the name, the chemistry of the heavier homologues of phosphorus has played an important role from the outset and is always taken into consideration.

Phosphorus chemistry is closely linked to chemical research in Germany in many respects. The element was discovered in Hamburg in 1669 by Hennig Brand, a German pharmacist and alchemist who had actually been searching for the philosopher’s stone. After being demystified as the “Mitscherlich test” (by Eilhard Mitscherlich, 1794–1863), the phosphorus chemiluminescence observed during the discovery found its way into forensic chemistry, thereby establishing an important branch of the systematic investigation of criminal acts.

Phosphorus is also known for its variety of allotropes, of which white, red, black and violet phosphorus have been known for a long time. White phosphorus (P₄) is the modification that represents the product of large-scale production. In research, the high reactivity and molecular structure of P₄ are highly valued; phosphorus-rich molecular compounds can be constructed through functionalisation. There are numerous connections between phosphorus and its heavier homologues—arsenic, antimony and bismuth—which are becoming increasingly important in the field of materials science and catalysis. The Division therefore also focuses its interest on the chemistry of the heavier elements in Group 15.

Phosphorus compounds are essential for all biological organisms, as they are components of elementary biomolecules and, in the form of nucleotides, secondary messengers and phosphorylations as post-translational modifications of proteins, are responsible for fundamental cellular mechanisms. Phosphorus compounds are also important building blocks in molecular probes in chemical biology and in modern pharmaceuticals, making them central to medicinal chemistry. One example is the hepatitis C medicine Sofosbuvir, which is based on the development of a nucleotide analogue and therefore a phosphorus(V) compound.

Phosphorus compounds are indispensable in inorganic and organic synthetic chemistry, whether in the Wittig reaction, the Staudinger reaction, the Arbuzov and Michaelis–Arbuzov reactions, the Mitsunobu reaction or the Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reaction, as organocatalysts or as multifunctional phosphine ligands, including chiral ligands in metal-complex catalysts. Phosphorus is also an important element in solid-state chemistry and materials science, for example in light-emitting diodes, steels and matches. Phosphorene (a relative of graphene) is a new and interesting two-dimensional material that has attracted increasing interest in recent years, including among German phosphorus chemists. And last but not least, phosphorus compounds play an important role in the chemical industry, for example as drying agents (e.g. phosphorus(V) oxide), in flame retardants, additives, plasticisers and plant protection products, or as phosphate in fertilisers.

Short link to this page: www.gdch.de/phosphorchemie