The variable-temperature 31P-{1H} n.m.r. spectra of a series of diphosphinoamines, X2PN(R)PX2(R = H, Me, Et, or Pri, X = Ph; R = Me, But, or CH2But, X = Cl; R = Me or But, X = F; R = Et, X = NMe2) have been studied. Complementary information on these compounds has been obtained from 1H, 13C, and 19F n.m.r., including double and triple resonance experiments. The coupling constant, 2J(PNP), covers the range –23.9 to 731.9 Hz, and its magnitude and sign can be related to the proportion of molecules in which the local symmetry of the P–N–P skeleton is C2v rather than CS. Diphosphinoamine conformers of the latter type have been clearly identified for the first time both in solution (for R = Et or Pri, X = Ph, and R = But or CH2But, X = Cl) and also in the solid phase. X-Ray analysis of Ph2PN(Pri)PPh2, based on 1 269 diffractometric intensities refined to R= 0.035, shows that the symmetry of the P–N–P skeleton is close to Cs in the solid, with P–N = 1.706(4) and 1.711(4)Å, and PNP = 122.8(3)°.