Dehydration induced by intramolecular redox character of a stable allylidenetributylphosphorane

An air and moisture stable P-ylide, dimethyl fluorenylidenetributylphosphoranylidene-succinate acts as a new type of dehydrating agent for synthesizing acid anhydride, ester, and amide. The ylide is most suitable for inducing these reactions in analogous P-ylides. The reaction is considered to be caused by internal reductive and oxidative nature of the P-ylide.