McCamley Lecture

This talk will consist of two separate stories. The first half will explore the synthesis and reactivity of a relatively unexplored functional group, azophosphines. We have studied their ligand properties and cycloaddition chemistry to make 5- and 7-membered rings containing P and N. The second half of the talk will describe our recent development of a new method to probe the active encounter complex in frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) chemistry, which is the transient species that underpins small-molecule activation and sustainable catalysis by FLPs