Chemodivergent Staudinger Reactions of Secondary Phosphine Oxides and Application to the Total Synthesis of LL–D05139β Potassium Salt

Unprecedented Staudinger reaction modes of secondary phosphine oxides (SPO) and organic azides are herein disclosed. By the application of various additives, selective nitrogen atom exclusion from the azide group has been achieved. Chlorotrimethylsilane mediates a stereoretentive Staudinger reaction with a 2‐N exclusion which provides a valuable method for the synthesis of phosphinic amides and can be considered complementary to the stereoinvertive Atherton–Todd reaction. Alternatively, a 1‐N exclusion pathway is promoted by acetic acid to provide the corresponding diazo compound. The effectiveness of this protocol has been further demonstrated by the total synthesis of the diazo‐containing natural product LL‐D05139β, which was prepared as a potassium salt for the first time in 6 steps and 26.5 % overall yield.