Summary: Two new mixed formic anhydrides, cinnamic formic anhydride and formic 4- methoxybenzoic anhydride, can be prepared in high yield (-80%) from equimolar mixtures of sodium formate and the appropriate acid chloride with a solid-phase copolymer of pyridine 1- oxide as catalyst, and they exhibit excellent selectivity as formylating agents of alcohols and amines.
[Shirini, Farhad; Zolfigol, Mohammad Ali; Mohammadi, Kamal Phosphorus, Sulfur and Silicon and the Related Elements, 2003 , vol. 178, # 7 p. 1617 - 1621]
