Phosphine–imidazoline ligands 8, and the derivatives 16 and 17, which have electron- withdrawing or electron-donating groups in the aminic nitrogen, were synthesized from 2- aryl-imidazolines, which have previously been obtained from dithioesters. The coordination of ligand 8 to Ir (I) was studied and the molecular structure of the [Ir (η4-COD) 8] BF4 (COD= 1, 5-cyclooctadiene) determined through X-ray diffraction. The in situ prepared Ir (I)/ ...