ELECTROCHEMICALLY INDUCED PROCESSES OF FORMATION OF PHOSPHORUS-ACID DERIVATIVES .4. SYNTHESIS OF TRIALKYL PHOSPHATES FROM WHITE PHOSPHORUS

The products of electrolysis in dipolar aprotic solvents on the backgr ound of tetraethylammonium iodide in the presence of white phosphorus are trialkyl phosphite (the primary product after splitting of all the P - P bonds in the phosphoric oligomers) and triaryl phosphate. It wa s found that the formation of triaryl phosphate from white phosphorus proceeds by way of electrochemical reduction of pentaaroxyphosphorane - an intermediate product of the reaction of triaryl phosphite with io dine and phenol. A strong dependence of the yields and distribution of the products on the composition of the electrolyte has been observed.