(Biphenyl-2,2′-di­yl)di-tert-butyl­phos­phonium trifluoro­methane­sulfonate

To aid in the elucidation of catalytic reaction mechanism of palladacycles, we found that reaction of trifluoro­methane­sulfonic acid with a phosphapalladacycle resulted in elimination of the palladium and formation of the title phospholium salt, C₂₀H₂₆P⁺·CF₃SO₃⁻. Selected geometrical parameters include P—biphenyl (av.) = 1.801 (3) Å and P—t-Bu (av.) = 1.858 (3) Å, and significant distortion of the tetra­hedral P-atom environment with biphen­yl—P—biphenyl = 93.93 (13)° and t-Bu—P—t-Bu = 118.82 (14)°. In the crystal, weak C—H...O inter­actions lead to channels along the c axis that are occupied by CF₃SO₃⁻ anions.