Nucleophiles directly substitute alcohols in the Mitsunobu reaction, but the process uses hazardous materials and generates an excessive amount of toxic waste. More than 50 years on from its initial discovery, chemists report a new catalytic version of the reaction, with water as the only by-product.
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McNally, A. Mitsunobu gets a makeover. Nat. Chem. 11, 966–967 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-019-0362-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-019-0362-2
