Straightforward carbamoylation of nucleophilic compounds employing organic azides, phosphines, and aqueous trialkylammonium hydrogen carbonate

In the presence of aqueous trialkylammonium hydrogen carbonate, the Staudinger reaction leads to the intermediate formation of the corresponding isocyanate, which, in turn, reacts further with a nucleophilic reagent also present in the mixture and results in carbamoylation with good yield. On the basis of this reaction a practical carbamoylation procedure was devised and a comparative study on suitability of different solvents and phosphorus (III) derivatives for carbamoylation reaction was conducted. The versatility of the method was demonstrated by examples with different classes of nucleophilic compounds that included the aminomethyl resin and natural compounds that display poor solubility in organic solvents.