A colorless oil, it is an aminophosphine although its inventor John Verkade called it proazaphosphatrane.

[1] Diverse analogues of the Verkade base are known, e.g. with isopropyl groups in place of methyl.

The proton is attacked by the Verkade base at the phosphorus atom within, which induces the formation of a transannular P-N bond.

The conjugate acid [HP(MeNCH2CH2)3N]+ of the base has a pKa of 32.9 in acetonitrile.

Owing to its ability to deprotonate weak carbon acids, the Verkade base catalyzes a variety of condensation reactions.