Formic acid catalyzed One-pot synthesis of α‑aminophosphonates: an efficient, inexpensive and environmentally friendly organocatalyst

α-aminophosphonates have always been in the center of attention among the organophosphouros compounds. α-Aminophosphonates are structural analogues of the corresponding α-amino acids in which a carboxylic motif is replaced by phosphonic acid or related groups.Aqueous formic acid is used for the synthesis of α-aminophosphonates through Kabachnik–Fields reaction applying aromatic amine, phosphite, and carbonyl compounds. Using formic acid as an efficient and low-cost organocatalyst provides environmentally friendly, high yields, low reaction time and mild reaction condition.Aqueous formic acid has been demonstrated to be a green, effective, inexpensive, insensitive to moisture and more accessible catalyst for synthesis of α‑aminophosphonates through Kabachnik–Fields reaction in high yield and mild condition. To conclude, easy work up, low cost of catalyst and high efficiency make our method to be efficient and practical for synthesis of α‑aminophosphonates. Further works need to be done to establish whether formic acid can be used in other acid catalyzed, nucleophilic addition and multi-component reactions in catalyst-free conditions.[1],[2]