Publications | Webster Catalysis

58. Jones, O. J.; Bond, A. D.; Webster, R. L.*

An Alkali Amide Approach to Triphosphabenzenes

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2026, accepted

57. Buxton, N. J.; Dadge, E. O.; Matys, O. S.; Entwisle, M. A. A.; Webster, R. L.*

Properties of [Fe(salen)]2-μ-Oxo Derivatives and Their Effect on Catalytic Hydrophosphination

Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2026, e202600013

56. Pocock, E.; Buxton, N. J.; Diefenbach, M.; Bond, A. D.; Lewis, S. E.*; Krewald, V.*; Webster, R. L.*

Effect of the [Fe(salen)]2-μ-oxo Catalyst Electronic Structure on Reductive Hydroamination

Inorg. Chem. 2026, 65, 999–1007

55. Webster, L.; Shoetan, R. A.; Alder, C.; Webster, R. L.*

Highly E-Selective Alkene Isomerization Using Me₄NF at Room Temperature

J. Org. Chem., 2025, accepted

54. Lau, S.; Mahon, M. F.*; Webster, R. L.*

Reactivity of Iron(II) Bis(imino)pyridine Complexes with PH3

Can. J. Chem. 2025, cjc-2025-0189

53. Barrett. A. N.; Webster, L.; Gasperini, D.; Castaing, R.; Mahon, M. F.*; Webster, R. L.*

Structural and Gas Uptake Studies on Iron(II) β-Diketiminate Metallomacrocycles

Organometallics, 2025, 44, 1713–1720

52. Pocock, E.; Diefenbach, M.; Hood, T. M.; Nunn, M.; Krewald, V.*; Lewis, S. E.*; Webster, R. L.*

Intercepting Methanimine for the Synthesis of Piperidine-Based N-Heterocycles in an Aqueous Medium

J. Org. Chem. 2025, 90, 11257–11263

51. Pocock, E.; Diefenbach, M.; Hood, T. M.; Nunn, M.; Richards, E.*; Krewald, K.*; Webster, R. L.*

Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies into the Reductive Functionalization of Nitro Compounds Catalyzed by an Iron(salen) Complex

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 9839–19851

50. Lau, S.; Mahon, M. F.; Webster, R. L.*

Synthesis and Characterization of a Terminal Iron(II)-PH2 Complex and
a Series of Iron(II)-PH3 Complexes

Inorg. Chem. 2024, 63, 6998–7006

49. Farcaş-Johnson, M. A.; Gasperini, D.; King, A. K.; Mohan, S.; Barrett, A. N.; Lau, S.; Mahon, M. F.; Sarazin, Y.; Kyne, S. H.*; Webster, R. L.*

Iron(II)-Catalyzed Activation of Si–N and Si–O Bonds Using Hydroboranes

Organometallics, 2023, 42, 3013–3024

48. Hood, T. M.; Lau, S.; Diefenbach, M. Firmstone, L.; Mahon, M. F.*; Krewald, V. K.*; Webster R. L.*

The Complex Reactivity of [(salen)Fe]2(μ-O) with HBpin and Its Implications in Catalysis

ACS Catal. 2023, 13, 11841-11850

47. Wheelhouse, K. M. P.; Webster, R. L.; Beutner, G. L.

Advances and Applications in Catalysis with Earth-Abundant Metals

Organometallics, 2023, 42, 1677-1679

Org. Process Res. Dev. 2023, 27, 1157-1159

Editorial

46. Hood, T. M.; Lau, S.; Webster R. L.*

Taming PH3: State of the Art and Future Directions in Synthesis

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 16684–16697

Invited Perspective

45. Lau, S.*; Hood, T. M.*; Webster R. L.*

Broken Promises? On the Continued Challenges Faced in Catalytic Hydrophosphination

ACS Catal. 2022, 12, 10939–10949

Invited Perspective

44. Farcas-Johnson, M. A.; Kyne, S. H.*; Webster, R. L.*

Dehydrocoupling Polymerization: Poly(silylether) Synthesis by Using an Iron β-Diketiminate Catalyst

Chem. Eur. J. 2022, 10.1002/chem.202201642

HOT PAPER

43. Barrett, A. N.; Diefenbach, M.; Mahon, M. F.*; Krewald, V.*; Webster, R. L.*

An Iron-Catalyzed Route to Dewar 1,3,5-triphosphabenzene and Subsequent Reactivity

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 10.1002/ange.202208663

HOT PAPER

42. Woof, C. R.; Linford-Wood, T. G.; Mahon, M. F.; Webster, R. L.*

Catalytic hydrophosphination of allenes using an iron(II) β-diketiminate complex

Synthesis, 2022, 10.1055/a-1902-5592

Invited article for a Special Edition "Synthetic Advancements Enabled by Phosphorous Redox"

41. Linford-Wood, T. G.; Mahon, M. F.; Grayson, M. N.*; Webster, R. L.*

Iron-Catalyzed H/D Exchange of Primary Silanes, Secondary Silanes, and Tertiary Siloxanes

ACS Catal. 2022, 15, 2979-2985

40. Barrett, A. N.; Woof, C. R.; Goult, C. A.; Gasperini, D.; Mahon, M. F.; Webster, R. L.*

Hydrogen/Halogen Exchange of Phosphines for the Rapid Formation of Cyclopolyphosphines

Inorg. Chem. 2021, 60, 16826–16833

39. Lau, S.; Provis-Evans, C. B.; James, A. P.; Webster, R. L.*

Hydroboration of Aldehydes, Ketones and CO2 Under Mild Conditions Mediated by Iron(III) Salen Complexes

Dalton Trans. 2021, 50, 10696-10700

38. Woof, C. R.; Durand, D. J.; Webster, R. L.*

Polymerization of allenes using an iron(II) β-diketiminate pre-catalyst to generate high Mn polymers

Chem. Eur. J. 2021, 27, 12335-12340

37. Gasperini, D.; Neale, S. E.; Mahon, M. F.; Macgregor, S. A.*; Webster, R. L.*

Phosphirenium Ions as Masked Phosphenium Catalysts: Mechanistic Evaluation and Application in Synthesis

ACS Catal. 2021, 11, 5452-5462

36. Linford-Wood, T. G.; Coles, N. T.; Webster, R. L.*

Room temperature iron catalyzed transfer hydrogenation using n-butanol and poly(methylhydrosiloxane)

Green Chem. 2021, 23, 2703-2709

35. Woof, C. R.; Durand, D. J.; Fey, N.*; Richards, E.*; Webster, R. L.*

Iron catalyzed double bond isomerization: evidence for an
Fe(I)/Fe(III) catalytic cycle

Chem. Eur. J. 2021, 27, 5972-5977

34. Coles, N. T.‡; Gasperini, D.‡; Provis-Evans, C. E.; Mahon, M. F.; Webster, R. L.*

Heterobimetallic complexes of 1,1-diphosphineamide ligands

Organometallics, 2021, 40, 148–155

‡ Equal contribution

33. Barrett, A. N.; Sanderson, H. J.; Mahon, M. F.;

Webster, R. L.*

Hydrophosphination using [GeCl{N(SiMe3)2}3] as a pre-catalyst

Chem Commun. 2020, 56, 13623-13626

Highlighted by ChemistryViews

32. Lau, S.‡; Gasperini, G.‡; Webster, R. L.*

Amine‐Boranes as Transfer Hydrogenation and Hydrogenation Reagents: A Mechanistic Perspective

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, DOI: 10.1002/anie.202010835

‡ Equal contribution

30. Gasperni, D.; King, A. K.; Coles, N. T.; Mahon, M. F.; Webster, R. L.*

Seeking Heteroatom-Rich Compounds: Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies into Iron Catalyzed Dehydrocoupling of Silanes

ACS Catal. 2020, 10, 6102-6112

31. Provis-Evans, C. B.; Lau, S.; Krewald,V.*; Webster, R. L.*

Regioselective Alkyne Cyclotrimerization with an In Situ-Generated [Fe(II)H(salen)]·Bpin Catalyst

ACS Catal. 2020, 10, 10157–10168

Highlighted by Synfacts

29. Provis-Evans, C. B.; Farrar, E. H. E.; Grayson, M. N.; Webster, R. L.*; Hill, A. K.*

Highly Sensitive Real-Time Isotopic Quantification of Water by ATR-FTIR

Anal. Chem. 2020, 92, 7500-7507

28. Espinal-Viguri, M.; Neale, S. E.; Coles, N. T.; Macgregor. S. A.*; Webster, R. L.*

Room temperature iron-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation and regioselective deuteration of carbon-carbon double bonds,

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 572-582.

27. Webster, R. L.*

Room Temperature Ni(II) Catalyzed Hydrophosphination and Cyclotrimerization of Alkynes

Inorganics, 2018, 6, 120-131.

Invited Article for a Special Edition on First-Row Transition Metal Complexes.

26. Coles, N. T.; Mahon. F.; Webster, R. L.*

1,1-Diphosphines and divinylphosphines via base catalyzed hydrophosphination,

Chem. Commun. 2018, 54, 10443-10446.

25. Provis-Evans, C. B.; Emanuelsson, E. A. C.; Webster, R. L.*

Rapid metal-free formation of free-phosphines from phosphine oxides,

Adv. Synth. Catal. 2018, 360, 3999-4004.

24. Coles, N. T.; Webster, R. L.*

Iron Catalyzed Dehydrocoupling of Amine- and Phosphine-Boranes

Isr. J. Chem. 2017, 57, 1070-1081.

23. King, A. K.; Gallagher, K. J.; Mahon, M. F.; Webster, R. L.*

Markovnikov versus anti-Markovnikov hydrophosphination: Divergent reactivity using an iron(II) β-diketiminate pre-catalyst,

Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 23, 9039–9043.

22. Coles, N. T.; Mahon, M. F.; Webster, R. L.*

Phosphine- and Amine-Borane Dehydrocoupling Using a Three-Coordinate Iron(II) β-Diketiminate Precatalyst,

Organometallics, 2017, 36, 2262–2268.

20. Espinal-Viguri, M.; Mahon, M. F.; Tyler, S. N. G.; Webster, R. L.*

Iron catalysis for the synthesis of ligands: Exploring the products of hydrophosphination as ligands in cross-coupling,

Tetrahedron 2017, 1, 64-69.

21. Webster, R. L.*

β-Diketiminate complexes of the first row transition metals: applications in catalysis,

Dalton Trans. 2017, 46, 4483-4498.

19. Espinal-Viguri, M.; King, A. K.; Lowe, J. P.; Mahon, M. F.; Webster, R. L.*

Hydrophosphination of unactivated alkenes and alkynes using iron(II): catalysis and mechanistic insight,

ACS Catal. 2016, 6, 7892-7897.

18. Espinal-Viguri, M.; Woof, C. R.; Webster, R. L.*

Iron catalyzed hydroboration: unlocking reactivity through ligand modulation,

Chem. Eur. J. 2016, 22, 11605–11608.

17. Gallagher, K. J.; Espinal-Viguri, M.; Mahon, M. F.; Webster, R. L.*

A study of two highly active, air-stable iron (III)-μ-oxo pre-catalysts: synthetic scope of hydrophosphination using phenyl- and diphenylphosphine,

Adv. Synth. Catal. 2016, 358, 2460-2468.

16. King, A. K.; Buchard, A.; Mahon, M. F.; Webster, R. L.*

Facile, catalytic dehydrocoupling of phosphines using β-diketiminate iron(II) complexes,

Chem. Eur. J. 2015, 21, 15960-15963.

15. Gilmour, D. J.; Webster, R. L.; Perry, M. R.; Schafer, L. L. Titanium pyridonates for the homo- and copolymerization of rac-lactide and ε-caprolactone, Dalton Trans. 2015, 44, 12411-12419.

14. Bent, S. J.; Mahon, M. F.; Webster, R. L.*

Copper malonamide complexes and their use in azide-alkyne cycloaddition reactions,

Dalton Trans. 2015, 44, 10253-10258.

13. Bedford, R. B.; Bowen, J. G.; Davidson, R. B.; Haddow, M. F.; Seymour-Julen, A. E.; Sparkes, H. A.; Webster R. L. Facile hydrolysis and alcoholysis of palladium acetate, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 6591-6594.

12. Brown, C. A.; Nile, T. A.; Mahon, M. F.; Webster R. L.*

Iron catalysed Negishi cross-coupling using simple ethyl-monophosphines,

Dalton Trans. 2015, 44, 12189-12195.

11. Gallagher K. J.; Webster R. L.*

Room temperature hydrophosphination using a simple iron salen pre-catalyst,

Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 12109-12111.

10. Evans V.; Mahon M. F.; Webster R. L.*

A mild, copper-catalysed amide deprotection strategy: use of tert-butyl as a protecting group,

Tetrahedron, 2014, 70, 7593-7597.

9. Tyler S. N. G.; Webster R. L.*

Sterically hindered malonamide monomers for the step growth synthesis of polyesters and polyamides,

Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 10665-10668.

8. Webster R. L.*

Random copolymerisations catalysed by simple titanium α-amino acid complexes

RSC Adv. 2014, 4, 5254-5260.

7. Garcia P.; Payne P. R.; Chong E.; Webster R. L.; Barron B. J.; Behrle A. C.; Schmidt J. A. R.; Schafer L. L. Easily assembled, modular N,O-chelating ligands for Ta(V) complexation: a comparative study of ligand effects in hydroaminoalkylation with N-methylaniline and 4-methoxy-N-methylaniline, Tetrahedron, 2013, 69, 5737-5743.

6.Webster R. L.; Noroozi N.; Hatzikiriakos S. G.; Thomson J. A.; Schafer L. L. Titanium pyridonates and amidates: novel catalysts for the synthesis of random copolymers, Chem. Commun. 2013, 49, 57-59.

5. Bedford R. B.; Haddow M. F.; Mitchell C. J.; Webster R. L. Mild C-H halogenation of anilides and the isolation of an unusual palladium(I)-palladium(II) species, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 5524-5527.

4. Bedford R. B.; Mitchell C. J.; Webster R. L. Solvent free catalytic C–H functionalisation, Chem. Commun. 2010, 46, 3095-3097.

3. Bedford R. B.; Engelhart J. U.; Haddow M. F.; Mitchell C. J.; Webster R. L. Solvent-free aromatic C–H functionalisation/halogenation reactions, Dalton Trans. 2010, 39, 10464-10472.

2. Bedford R. B.; Webster R. L.; Mitchell C. J. Palladium-catalysed ortho-arylation of carbamate-protected phenols, Org. Biomol. Chem. 2009, 7, 4853-4857.

1. Bedford R. B.; Haddow M. F.; Webster R. L.; Mitchell C. J. The catalytic ortho-arylation of tyrosine, Org. Biomol. Chem. 2009, 7, 3119-3127.