Synthesis of 3-hydroxyoxetane

A process for preparing 3-hydroxyoxetane comprising the following steps in order:

• (1) reacting a carboxylic acid of the formula CH.sub.3 (CH.sub.2).sub.n COOH with epichlorohydrin in the presence of a catalytic amount of anhydrous ferric chloride to produce an ester of the formula ##STR22## wherein n is an integer of from 0 to 3;
• (2) reacting the ester formed in step (1) with a blocking agent selected from the group consisting of
• (a) dihydropyran,
• (b) ethyl vinyl ether,
• (c) propyl vinyl ether,
• (d) n-butyl vinyl ether, and
• (e) isopentyl vinyl ether
• in the presence of a catalyst selected from the group consisting of pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate and toluenesulfonic acid to form a blocked ester of the formula ##STR23## wherein n is an integer of from 0 to 3 and Z is selected from the group consisting of ##STR24## (3) hydrolyzing the blocked ester formed in step (2) with an aqueous base to remove the carboxylic acid and form a 3-hydroxyoxetane derivative of the formula ##STR25## wherein Z is defined in step (2);
• (4) removing the blocking group from the 3-hydroxyoxetane derivative by heating it with an alcohol and an acid to form the produce 3-hydroxyoxetane, ##STR26## (5) isolating the product 3-hydroxyoxetane.