Nucleophilic addition of TMSCCl3 to N-phosphinoyl benzaldimines: a route to N-phosphinoyl-α-(trichloromethyl)benzylamines

Nucleophilic addition of readily available TMSCCl3 to N-phosphinoyl benzaldimines allows preparation of N-phosphinoyl-α-(trichloromethyl)benzylamines. Typically, the reaction in THF at room temperature using tetrabutylammonium difluorotriphenylsilicate (TBAT) as a catalytic promoter, afforded very good yields (65-95% range) for most derivatives within 1 h at room temperature.