Tricyclohexylphosphine is the

tertiary phosphine Phosphine (IUPAC name: phosphane) is a colorless, flammable, highly toxic compound with the chemical formula , classed as a pnictogen hydride. Pure phosphine is odorless, but technical grade samples have a highly unpleasant odor like rotting ...

with the formula P( C₆H₁₁)₃. Commonly used as a

ligand In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule (functional group) that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's elect ...

organometallic chemistry Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and s ...

, it is often abbreviated to PCy₃, where Cy stands for

cyclohexyl Cyclohexane is a cycloalkane with the molecular formula . Cyclohexane is non-polar. Cyclohexane is a colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive detergent-like odor, reminiscent of cleaning products (in which it is sometimes used). Cyclohexan ...

. It is characterized by both high basicity (p''K''_a = 9.7) and a large

ligand cone angle In coordination chemistry, the ligand cone angle (a common example being the Tolman cone angle or ''θ'') is a measure of the steric bulk of a ligand in a transition metal coordination complex. It is defined as the solid angle formed with the met ...

(170°).{{cite journal , last1 = Immirzi , first1 = A. , last2 = Musco , first2 = A. , title = A Method to Measure the Size of Phosphorus Ligands in Coordination Complexes , doi = 10.1016/S0020-1693(00)95635-4 , year = 1977 , journal = Inorg. Chim. Acta , volume = 25 , pages = L41–42 Important complexes containing P(Cy)₃ ligands include the 2005 Nobel Prize-winning

Grubbs' catalyst Grubbs catalysts are a series of transition metal carbene complexes used as catalysts for olefin metathesis. They are named after Robert H. Grubbs, the chemist who supervised their synthesis. Several generations of the catalyst have been develo ...

and the

homogeneous Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts often used in the sciences and statistics relating to the uniformity of a substance or organism. A material or image that is homogeneous is uniform in composition or character (i.e. color, shape, siz ...

hydrogenation Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum. The process is commonly employed to reduce or saturate organic ...

catalyst Crabtree's catalyst. Image:Grubbs_Catalyst_1st_Generation.svg, Grubbs' catalyst (first generation) Image:Crabtree.png, Crabtree's catalyst

References

Tertiary phosphines Cyclohexyl compounds