has specified product has specified reactant dialkyl phosphate tetrachloromethane phosphonic ester halogenation functional group oxidation Atherton-Todd reaction 2021-12-16T12:05:47Z AT reaction RXNO RXNO:0000690 Since the dialkyl chlorophosphates formed are often too reactive to be isolated, conversion to the corresponding phosphate or phosphoramidate occurs in the presence of a suitable nucleophile (e.g., alcohol or amine) after the actual Atherton-Todd reaction. The conversion of dialkyl phosphites (dialkyl phosphonates) to dialkyl chlorophosphates using tetrachloromethane and a base (usually a primary, secondary or tertiary amine).