Flash vacuum thermolysis (FVT) of cyclic phosphine−borane complexes and direct analysisof the gaseous flow by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy allowed us to characterizetransient phosphinoboranes and to provide information about their electronic properties.This study was also supported by HRMS results. Ab initio calculations with the hybridfunctional B3LYP and the basis set 6-311G (d, p) allowed us to assign the different ionizationsof the PE spectra and provided more information about the character of the BP bond.
Cyclic phosphinoboranes (>BP<) are generated in gas phase by flash vacuum thermolysis and characterized by their ionization potentials by UV photoelectron spectroscopy. Combination of the UV PES and ab initio calculations allows us to determine their electronic properties and the character of the BP bond.