Although (arylmethy1) phosphonates containing an elec-tron-withdrawing group such as an ester, sulfonyl, or cyano group on the a-carbon can be expected to be versatile intermediate reagents for organic synthesis, the number of studies on their synthesis and synthetic application have been, to our knowledge, limited.'This may be because the preparation of a- functionalized (arylmethybphosphonates is difficult and the functionality that can be ...