T. Tsunoda et al., NOVEL REACTIVITY OF STABILIZED METHYLENETRIBUTYLPHOSPHORANE - A NEW MITSUNOBU REAGENT, Tetrahedron letters, 35(28), 1994, pp. 5081-5082
Cyanomethylenetributylphosphorane was shown to mediate the direct cond
ensation of alcohols with O- and N-nucleophiles. A secondary alcohol,
2-octanol, reacted satisfactorily with Walden inversion of its carbiny
l carbon.