An efficient synthesis of 3-functionalized coumarins is demonstrated from o-cresols and active methylene compounds under solvent-, metal-and catalyst-free conditions in the presence of 70 % aqueous tert-butyl hydrogen peroxide. The important features of this protocol are operational simplicity, mild reaction conditions and good to excellent yield of the products.Coumarin scaffold is well regarded parent compound present in several natural products and bioactive molecules. [1] Coumarin derivatives possess a wide range of biological activities including antibacterial, antifungal, anti-HIV, antioxidant, anticancer, analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities (Figure 1). [2] Coumarin scaffold also incorporated in insecticides, fragrances, perfumes, agrochemicals and used as additives in foods and cosmetics. [3] On the other hand, numerous coumarins compounds were explored as light-harvesting molecules, lightemitting diodes, triplet oxygen sensitizers, fluorescent probes, etc. [4] Hence, coumarin is very imperative building block for combinatorial library synthesis.Synthesis of these oxygen containing heterocyclic compounds usually executed by numerous methods including the von Pechmann, Knoevenagel, Perkin and Wittig reactions. [5,6] Knoevenagel condensation is not only an alternative, but also an efficient method for the synthesis of 3-substituted coumarins from salicylaldehyde with active methylene compounds like meldrum acid, malonate esters, ethyl cyanoacetate, etc. [6] Synthesis of 3-substituted coumarins via Knoevenagel condensation was achieved using different metal and metal-free catalyst like ZrCl 4 , MgÀ Al hydrotalcite, mesoporous molecular sieve MCM-41, p-toluenesulphonic acid, natural clay, PhI(OAc) 2 L-proline, NaOH, piperidine, MgFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles (Scheme 1, A). [1,5,6] However, most of these methods have their own merits and demerits.