Water soluble, zero-valent, platinum–, palladium–, and nickel–P(CH ₂ OH) ₃ complexes:catalysts for the addition of PH ₃ to CH ₂ O

The phosphine P(CH2OH)3 forms water soluble complexes of the type[M{P(CH2OH)3}4](M pt, Pd, or Ni) which are catalysts for the addition of PH3 to CH2O and the Pt complex is readily protonated by water;the crystal structure of the Pd complex is also described.