Use of diphenyl (2-pyridyl) phosphine instead of triphenylphosphine in the Mitsunobu esterification reaction facilitates isolation of the desired ester. The resulting phosphine oxide is readily removed by a dilute acid wash. 31P n.m.r , investigations of the mechanism suggest that the pyridylphosphine behaves in an analogous manner to triphenylphosphine.
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Camp et al. (1998) studied this question.