Preparation of 1-(4-hydroxy-phenyl)-butan-3-one and novel intermediates

Abstract

A simple process for preparing 1-(4-hydroxy-phenyl)-butan-3-one, a sought-after natural aromatic, in a pure form and in good yield from easily accessible starting materials, wherein a 4-tert-alkoxy-benzaldehyde is condensed, under alkaline conditions, to give a novel 1-(4-tert.-alkoxy-phenyl)-but-1-en-3-one, the latter is hydrogenated, during or after this condensation, to give a novel 1-(4-tert.-alkoxy-phenyl)-butan-3-one, and isobutene or 2-methyl-but-1(2)-ene is eliminated from this compound in the presence of a catalytic amount of an acid. The novel intermediates have the general formula ##STR1## where R is H or CH.sub.3 and the broken line may or may not be an additional carbon-carbon bond.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.