A novel metal-free organobase-catalyzed regioselective benzoylation of diols and carbohydrates has been developed. Treatment of diol and carbohydrate substrates with 1.1 equiv. of 1-benzoylimidazole and 0.2 equiv. of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) in MeCN under mild conditions resulted in highly regioselective benzoylation for the primary hydroxyl group. Importantly, compared to most commonly