Rasta Resin-PPh3 and its Use in Chromatography-Free Wittig Reactions

Rasta resin-PPh3, a new heterogeneous polystyrene-based phosphine, has been synthesized and used in one-pot Wittig olefination reactions of aldehydes. In these reactions an excess of rasta resin-PPh3 was used for the in situ generation of the phosphorane reactant and allowed for isolation of a high yield of very pure alkene product after only filtration and solvent removal. The excellent results obtained in this study are attributed to the flexible nature of the rasta resin structure, which makes it less dependant upon swelling than other heterogeneous polystyrene materials previously used to support phosphine reagents in Wittig reactions.