2005

Masaaki Yoshifuji has gained a worldwide recognition when he described the first genuine phosphorus-phosphorus double bond in a famous paper published in the J. Am.Chern.Soc. in 1981. The stabilization of this first diphosphene RP=PR was achieved by using very bulky substituents providing the double bond with a sufficient kinetic stability. This finding led to a complete reevaluation of the so-called double-bond rule forbidding the existence of stable double bonds between heavy elements. Following this breakthrough, Prof. Yoshifuji investigated the stabilization of a bunch of low-coordinated phosphorus species including phosphaalkenes, phosphadienes, phosphacumulenes, phosphaalkynes, etc. using bulky substitu­ ents and developed their chemistry. Recently, he started to investigate the possible uses of these new species as ligands in homogeneous catalysis.
Professor Yoshifuji has authored or co-authored about 250 papers in Japanese and international journals,has received the Alexander von Humboldt award, and has organized the 15th International Conference on Phosphorus Chemistry in 2001 in Sendai. He is clearly one of the prominent organophosphorus chemists in activity.