ABSTRACT A new application of Staudinger’s phosphazene as an efficient esterifying reagent is reported. Staudinger’s phosphazene formed in situ by the reaction of organic mono-azide with triphenylphosphine, which is trapped by carboxylic acid, to afford amide exclusively. In contrast, interestingly the same phosphazene behaves in a different way as an efficient esterifying reagent, affording ester