Molecular doping: accessing the first carborane-substituted 1,2,3-triphospholanide via insertion of P- into a P-P bond.

Insertion of a P- anion into a P-P bond yielding the first carborane-substituted 1,2,3-triphospholanide 1 was achieved by treating a carborane-substitued 1,2-diphosphetane with sodium phosphaethynolate. The triphospholanide 1 can serve as a versatile nucleophilic building block for unprecedent functionalised triphospholanes and carborane-substituted polyphosphanes.