Preparation of Protected 2-Hydroxymethyl Isocyanates: An Application to Agricultural Synthesis

The preparation of N-benzyloxymethyl isocyanate (4) and t-butyldiphenylsiloxymethyl isocyanate (9) via the diphenylphosphoryl azide modified Curtius rearrangement is described These isocyanates have been employed in the synthesis of a herbicide metabolite 1, which contains the sensitive N-hydroxymethyi urea functional group.