Treatment of methyl 2,3-di-O-benzyl-α-D-glucopyranoside (1), methyl 2,3-di-O-acetyl-α-D-glucopyranoside (4), 3-O-benzyl-1,2-O-(1-methylethylidene)-α-D-glucofuranose (6), 3-O-acetyl-1,2-O-(1-methylethylidene)-α-D-glucofuranose (9), 1,2-O-(1-methylethylidene)-α-D-xylofuranose (11) and methyl 2,3-di-O-acetyl-α-D-galactopyranoside (15) with diisopropylazodicarboxylate-triphenylphosphine in tetrahydrofuran led to the corresponding dioxaphosphoranes, which were opened by trimethylsilyl azide affording the silylated primary azidodeoxysugars. When the same reaction was performed on methyl 2,3-di-O-benzyl-α-D-galactopyranoside (20), an inversion of the regioselectivity of the dioxaphosphorane opening was observed, leading mainly to the 4-azido-4-deoxy-α-D-glucopyranoside derivative27.