Patent ID: 8299306

Claim:
A process for the preparation of a compound of formula (I) wherein R is hydrogen, a straight or branched C 1 -C 6 alkylcarbonyl group or a phenylcarbonyl group, or a salt thereof, comprising the following steps: a) forming a reaction mixture by adding to a suspension of Mg a compound of formula (II) R 1 ( MgX ) n .LiY (II) wherein n is 1 or 2; R 1 is an aromatic, aliphatic, carbocyclic or heterocyclic organic group having 1 to 24 carbon atoms; X and Y are independently selected from Cl, Br and I, b) reacting the reaction mixture with a compound of formula (III) in a solvent to form a Grignard reagent, c) reacting the Grignard reagent with a linear, branched or cyclic carbonate to obtain a compound of formula (IV) wherein A is a linear, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 6 alkyl group, and then further reacting the compound of formula (IV) to obtain a compound of formula (I) by reducing the ester to the corresponding methyl alcohol and (i) debenzylating the protected alcohol when R is hydrogen or (ii) debenzylating the protected alcohol and then carrying out phenolic monoacylation when R is C 1 −C 6 alkylcarbonyl or phenylcarbonyl.