The Continuing Development of the Chemistry of Phospholes

The last five years have seen many advances in the chemistry of phospholes. Motivating much of the work has been the potential for discovering valuable applications of phospholes, especially as ligands in metal coordination compounds designed for use as homogeneous catalysts, and in the field of electro-optical substances. This review covers the research in the synthesis, properties and applications of phospholes that has been published since the last comprehensive review by the author in 1999. While prepared for the specialist, the review is designed to introduce some of the aspects of phosphole chemistry to the general reader.