Chiral oxazaphosphorinanes, derived from (-)-8-amino menthol are alkylated with good to excellent diastereoselectivities. The regioselectivity in the alkylation is dependent on the base used for deprotonation. The ethyl oxazaphosphorinanes are alkylated at the nitrogen substituent after deprotonation with n-butyllithium, but in a-position to the phosphorous atom by deprotonation with LDA. On the contrary, the oxazaphosphorinanes with an alkyl substituent at the nitrogen atom or benzyl oxazaphosphorinane are alkylated in a-position to the phosphorous atom after deprotonation with either n-butyllithium or LDA.Phosphorous derivatives are an attractive class of compounds as a consequence of their biological 1 and chemical interest. In this respect, they have been used as starting materials in the synthesis of different classes of organic compounds 2 or as catalysts in enantioselective transformations. 3 In addition, phosphorous stabilized carbanions are one of the most powerful class of reagents for the selective construction of single 4 and double 5 carbon-carbon bonds.Specially interesting are chiral carbanions stabilized by a phosphorous atom because they allow for the diastereoselective formation of carbon-carbon bonds, and compounds with stereogenic phosphorous atoms and derivatives modified by chiral auxiliaries have been successfully used in this way. 6 Phosphonamides 7 and oxaphosphonamides 8 derived from chiral diamines or amino alcohols participate in diastereoselective transformations with excellent diastereomeric excess.The stereoselection observed in the reactions of phosphonamides and oxaphosphonamides has been rationalized on the basis of the steric and conformational preferences of both the neutral compounds 9 and the lithium derivatives, 10 although it is also dependent on the structure of the electrophile, 11 the stereochemistry of the phosphorous atom, 12 the nature of the substituents at the nitrogen atom, 8b and the size 13 and the configurational and conformational characteristics of the heterocyle. 14 Recently we have demonstrated that the regio-and stereochemistry of the alkylation of oxazaphosphorinanes is also dependent on the nature of the substituents at the phosphorous and nitrogen atoms and on the base used in the initial deprotonation, 15 and now we report in full our results on this type of diastereoselective alkylation on oxazaphosphorinanes with different substituents at the nitrogen and phosphorous atoms.The starting perhydro 1,3,2-oxazabenzophosphorinane-2-oxides (1-6) were prepared as summarized in Scheme 1. Compounds 1 (31%) and 2 (61%) were obtained by direct cyclization 16 of (-)-8-benzylamino menthol with ethyl phosphonic dichloride and triethylamine in dichloromethane, whereas diastereoisomers 3 and 4 (ca. 1:2 ratio) was prepared in the same way but starting from (-)-8-ethylamino menthol. Alternatively, compounds 6 (as a single diastereoisomer) and 1 (accompanied in ca. 3% by 2) were prepared by Arbuzov reaction, in refluxing toluene, between benzyl bromide or ethyl iodide a...