The reaction of P4S10 with acyloins, RC(O)CH(OH)R, in refluxing dioxane, followed by the addition of alkylating agents, forms dithiolene thiophosphoryl thiolate compounds, (R2C2S2)P(S)(SR'), which are readily isolated and purified. The compounds that have been prepared and identified spectroscopically are those with R = p-anisyl, R' = Me (1); R = p-anisyl, R' = Bz (2); R = Ph, R' = Me (4); R = Et, R' = Bz (5). Compounds 1, 2, and 4 were structurally characterized by X-ray crystallography and found to possess a tetrahedral coordination geometry about the phosphorus atom, with overall C-s symmetry. In each case, the mirror plane bisects the dithiolene S-P-S chelate and contains the thiophosphoryl bond, which ranges in length from 1.9241(8) to 1.9361(7) angstrom. The use of 2-(bromomethyl)naphthalene as organic electrophile in the P4S10/acyloin reaction produced bis(2-methylnaphthalenyl) disulfide as the only identifiable product. The substitution of Lawesson's reagent for P4S10 in reactions with acyloins produced deoxy acyloin rather than products resulting from chalcogen exchange. Compounds 1-2 and 4-5 are Group 5 analogues of 1,3-dithiol-2-ones, (R2C2S2)CO, and undergo a similar hydrolysis in aqueous base to liberate ene-1,2-dithiolate dianions from which corresponding metal dithiolene complexes may be prepared. Deprotection of 1 in MeO-/MeOH, followed by the addition of NiCl2 center dot 6H(2)O and then I-2, produces square planar [Ni(S2C2(C6H4-p-OCH3)(2))(2)] (8) in 93% yield. A high-resolution structure of 8 (P (1) over bar) reveals dithiolene C-C and C-S bond lengths that are clearly indicative of the thionyl radical monoanionic nature of the ligand. The use of isolated (R2C2S2)P(S)(SR') compounds as a dithiolene ligand source for the preparation of metal dithiolene complexes offers the advantages of clean reactivity and high yield.