Synthesis of 2-amino-3-cyano-4H-chromen-4-ylphosphonates and 2-amino-4H-chromenes catalyzed by tetramethylguanidine

Abstract Synthesis of 2-amino-4 H -chromen-4-ylphosphonates and 2-amino-4 H -chromenes has been accomplished by the reaction of salicylaldehyde, malononitrile, dialkyl/diphenylphosphites catalyzed by 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine (TMG) under neat conditions at room temperature. The applicability of catalytic TMG for the synthesis of 2-amino-4 H -chromenes also has been described. The mild reaction conditions, simple work-up procedure, and use of TMG as an inexpensive catalyst provides an economical protocol for the preparation of important phosphorus-containing compounds.