This invention relates to a thioalkenyl phosphonic acid ester and to a process for the preparation thereof.
Thioalkenyl phosphonic esters are a group of compounds useful as intermediate compounds for the production of fine chemicals, because they can easily give, by Michael reaction with a nucleophile, a carbanion which in turn causes Horner-Emmons addition reaction with a carbonyl compound and because they can undergo a carbon--carbon bond-forming reaction by regio- or stereo-selective coupling with a vinyl halide, an aryl halide or Grignard reagent in the presence of a transitional metal catalyst.
At present, no methods have been known which can produce thioalkenyl phosphonic esters by a single stage reaction of a hydrocarbon. A reaction of a thioalkenyl halogen compound with a secondary phosphite under basic conditions may yield a thioalkenyl phosphonic ester. An addition of a secondary phosphite to a thioalkyne may also produce a thioalkenyl ether. These methods, however, are not advantageous from the industrial point of view, because the sulfur-containing raw materials are not easily obtainable.