Phosphorus reagents are well established as deoxygenating agents in various important reactions such as Wittig, 1 Mitsunobu, 2 Arbuzov, 3 etc. The driving force in all these reactions is the high energy, ranging from 120 to 150 kcal/mol, released upon formation of phosphine oxide or phosphate products. 4 Cadogan and others reported the abstraction of oxygen from aromatic nitro and nitroso compounds by triethyl phosphites and related ...
