Process for the preparation of 2-(6-substituted pyrid-2-yloxymethyl) phenylacetate

Abstract

A process for preparing 2-(6-substituted pyrid-2-yloxymethyl)phenyacetates especially useful as intermediates for producing agricultural fungicides. The invention provides a compound having the formula (I): wherein A and D are independently selected from the group comprising halo, hydroxy, halo(C.sub.1-4)alkyl, C.sub.1-4 alkoxy, thio(C.sub.1-4)alkoxy, halo(C.sub.1-4)alkoxy, phenyl, phenoxy, nitro, amino, aclyamino, cyano, carboxy, C.sub.1-4 alkoxycarbonyl and C.sub.1-4 alkylcarbonyloxy, or D is C.sub.1-4 alkyl, and m is 0 or an integer of from 1 to 3. The process comprises treating a compound of formula (II): ##STR1## wherein A, D and m are defined as above and M is a metal atom, with a compound of formula (III): ##STR2## wherein L is a leaving group.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.