Recycling the Waste: The Development of a Catalytic Wittig Reaction

It's all in the ring: 3‐Methyl‐1‐phenylphospholane‐1‐oxide (4–10 mol %) and an organosilane reducing agent are the key components in the first Wittig reaction catalytic in phosphine. The protocol also functions well on larger scale: a reaction on a 30 mmol scale yielded 3.39 g of product, corresponding to a yield of 67 %.