The allyl phosphoester group is shown to be a protecting group for the synthesis of anionic polyphosphodiesters. Our strategy relies on the synthesis of a cyclic phosphate monomer bearing a pendant allyl phosphoester group, its easy purification by fractional distillation, its organocatalyzed ring-opening polymerization by 1,8-diazobicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) and 1-[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-3-cyclohexyl-thiourea (TU). Finally, the deprotection of the allyl phosphoester group is carried out by reaction with sodium benzenethiolate in the absence of any detectable degradation. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015, 53, 2642-2648