The anomeric effect highlights the significant influence of the functional group and reaction conditions on oxidation–reduction. This article successfully investigates the anomeric effect in the synthesis of picolinate and picolinic acid derivatives through a multi-component reaction involving 2-oxopropanoic acid or ethyl 2-oxopropanoate, ammonium acetate, malononitrile, and various aldehydes. To facilitate this process, we employed UiO-66(Zr)-N(CH2PO3H2)2 as a novel nanoporous heterogeneous catalyst. The inclusion of phosphorous acid tags on the UiO-66(Zr)-N(CH2PO3H2)2 offers the potential for synthesizing picolinates at ambient temperature.
