Phosphine
chemical compound
Phosphine (IUPAC name: phosphane) is a colorless, flammable, highly toxic compound with the chemical formula PH3, classed as a pnictogen hydride. Pure phosphine is odorless, but technical grade samples have a highly unpleasant odor like rotting fish, due to the presence of substituted phosphine and diphosphane (P2H4). With traces of P2H4 present, PH3 is spontaneously flammable in air (pyrophoric), burning with a luminous flame. Phosphine is a highly toxic respiratory poison, and is immediately dangerous to life or health at 50 ppm. Phosphine has a trigonal pyramidal structure.
Phosphines are compounds that include PH3 and the organophosphines, which are derived from PH3 by substituting one or more hydrogen atoms with organic groups. They have the general formula PH3−nRn. Phosphanes are saturated phosphorus hydrides of the form PnHn+2, such as triphosphane. Phosphine (PH3) is the smallest of the phosphines and the smallest of the phosphanes.
History
Philippe Gengembre (1764–1838), a student of Lavoisier, first obtained phosphine in 1783 by heating white phosphorus in an aqueous solution of potash (potassium carbonate).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Phosphine” as chemical compound. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as chemical compound. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q207877. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1764, 1838 and 1783.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
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This entry incorporates text from “Phosphine” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.