A new phosphine, the diphenyldibenzobarrelenephosphine 2, was designed to study the barrier to rotation of the P−H group around the C−^•P bond. After homolytic scission of a P−H bond by radiolysis, the EPR spectrum of the resulting phosphinyl radical, trapped in a single crystal of 2, was studied at 77 K and at room temperature. The directions of the ³¹P hyperfine eigenvectors were compared with the bond orientations of the undamaged compound as determined from its crystal structure. The temperature dependence of the EPR spectrum was analyzed by using the density matrix formalism; this showed that interaction between the phosphinyl hydrogen and the phenyl ring bound to the ethylenic bond is determinant for explaining the potential energy profile. DFT investigations are consistent with these experimental results.

To measure the rotation barrier around an R3C−•PH bond in the solid state, 9-phosphinotriptycene50 2 has been synthesized and its crystal structure has been determined. It is shown, by EPR, that the radiogenic radical 3, which results from a homolytic scission of a P−H bond, can indeed be trapped in the crystal matrix. Its g-tensor together with its 31P and 1H hyperfine coupling have been measured at 300 and 77 K. These tensors show that free rotation around the C−P bond occurs at room temperature but is blocked at liquid nitrogen temperature. The temperature dependence of the EPR spectra has been analyzed using the density matrix formalism and has led to a rotation barrier of about 2.5 kcal·mol-1 . This result and the various hyperfine couplings have been compared with the values predicted by ab initio methods for two isolated model radicals: the tert-butylphosphinyl radical 4 and the barrelenophosphinyl radical 5.