Abstract
The Wittig reaction is widely used for the formation of alkenes and involves the reaction of an aldehyde or a ketone with an ylide generated from a phosphonium salt. This chapter introduces the formation of the phosphorus ylide, the oxaphosphetane and the alkene. It then goes on to look at the environmental issues with these reactions and discusses green chemistry developments in yield, solvent use, purification and waste.
Publisher
The Royal Society of Chemistry