Amino acids and some of their derivatives are strong polar organic compounds. Non-deuterated formic acid was used as an inexpensive, convenient, and practical C-13 NMR solvent for these strong polar compounds. It was also used to determine hydroxyl carboxylic acids and nucleosides. C-13 NMR chemical shifts in formic acid of representative examples and widely used solvents in organic reactions were provided. Formic acid is a counterpart to commonly used perdeuterated chloroform, dimethyl sulfoxide, methanol, and water.