It is a colourless oily liquid with a pungent odor that is often described as being garlic-like and detectable even in the ppb range.

Benzene reacts with phosphorus trichloride at extreme temperatures around 600 °C to give dichlorophenylphosphine (PhPCl2) and HCl.

[2][3] Alternatively such compounds are prepared by redistribution reactions starting with triphenylphosphine and phosphorus trichloride.

Reduction with sodium affords tetraphenyldiphosphine: With ammonia and elemental sulfur, it converts to the thiophosphorylamide:[4] Chlorodiphenylphosphine, along with other chlorophosphines, is used in the synthesis of various phosphines.

A typical route uses Grignard reagents:[3] The phosphines produced from reactions with Ph2PCl are further developed and used as pesticides (such as EPN), stabilizers for plastics (Sandostab P-EPQ), various halogen compound catalysts, flame retardants (cyclic phosphinocarboxylic anhydride), as well as UV-hardening paint systems (used in dental materials) making Ph2PCl an important intermediate in the industrial world.