An efficient and green method to prepare bis-α-hydroxy phosphonates using triethylamine as catalyst

Abstract

An efficient, convenient and environmentally friendly method for the synthesis of bis-α-hydroxy phosphonates via a perfectly atom economical Pudovik reaction is described. Using 5 mol% of triethylamine as a catalyst, a series of aromatic/heteroaromatic dialdehydes reacts with dialkyl phosphites to afford the corresponding bis-α-hydroxy phosphonates, particularly the bio-mass based ones, under solvent-free conditions or in a minimum amount of tetrahydrofuran at room temperature with moderate to excellent yields (52–95%).

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Bis-α-hydroxy phosphonate
• Pudovik reaction
• green syntheses
• aromatic dialdehyde
• biomass

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 21805143], the Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo [Grant 2018A610118], K. C. Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University, and Open Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CIAC), Chinese Academy of Sciences [2018-28].