Tetraarylphosphonium-supported carbodiimide reagents: Synthesis, structure optimization and applications

New tetraarylphosphonium (TAP)-supported alkyl- and arylcarbodiimides were synthesized and used as coupling reagents for esterification reactions, amidation reactions and dehydration reactions of hydroxyesters. Taking advantage of the solubility properties imparted by the tetraarylphosphonium unit, a simple precipitation and filtration allowed complete separation of the urea by-products. This paper describes the structure optimization study of the various TAP-supported carbodiimide reagents to obtain the desired reactivity and solubility profile. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that the diimide reagent can be regenerated from the urea to recycle the reagents.