• Reaction with acyl halides or mixed anhydrides gives acyl azides. These undergo the Curtius rearrangement to isocyanates, which can be isolated, or hydrolyzed in situ to the primary amine. For examples, see: Org. Synth. Coll., 6, 95, 910 (1988).
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The reaction of alkyl halides with the highly-nucleophilic azide anion gives alkyl azides which, because of their facile reduction by hydrogenation, SnCl2, P(III) reagents, etc., provide an excellent, mild route to primary amines. For a review of the preparation and synthetic uses of azides, see: Chem. Rev., 88, 297 (1988). The preparation of alkyl azides is ideally suited to phase-transfer methods: Synthesis, 823 (1979); Tetrahedron Lett., 3107 (1978); 30, 1245 (1989). The use of ultrasound has also been found to be effective: Acta Chem. Scand. B, 38, 895 (1984). For a one-pot conversion of alkyl bromides to amines using the Staudinger reaction, see Triethyl phosphite, L00339; see also Triphenylphosphine, L02502. For reviews, see: Tetrahedron, 37, 437 (1981); 48, 1353 (1992).• For a brief feature on uses of this reagent in Organic synthesis, see: Synlett, 505 (2007).
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Reagent for selective cleavage of methyldiphenylsilyl ethers; see Diphenylmethylchlorosilane, L04162.