Direct C–OH/P(O)–H dehydration coupling forming phosphine oxides

A t-BuONa-mediated C-OH/P(O)-H cross dehydration coupling to produce alkylphosphine oxides is developed. This reaction employed readily available alcohols and P(O)-H compounds as the starting materials, providing an efficient alternative method for constructing sp3 C-P bonds. A reasonable reaction path involving dehydration and subsequent regio-selective hydrophosphorylation of the resulting alkenes was proposed.