Patent ID: 7201835

Claim:
A process for the preparation of orthoesters of formula I, where the radicals have the following meaning R 1 : hydrogen, C 1 - to C 20 -alkyl, C 2 - to C 20 -alkenyl, C 2 - to C 20 -alkynyl, C 3 - to C 12 -cycloalkyl, C 4 - to C 20 - cycloalkylalkyl or C 4 - to C 10 -aryl R 2 , R 3 : C 1 - to C 20 -alkyl, C 3 - to C 12 -cycloalkyl, and C 4 - to C 20 -cycloalkylalkyl or R 2 and R 3 together form C 2 - to C 10 -alkylene R 4 : C 1 - to C 4 -alkyl, by electrochemically oxidizing a compound of formula II in which the radicals R 1 to R 3 have the same meaning as in formula I, and R 5 is a saturated or unsaturated 5- or 6-membered heterocycloalkyl radical or heterocycloaryl radical having up to 2 heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O and S, where this radical is bonded to the remaining part of the molecule via a carbon atom which is situated in the adjacent position to a heteroatom, in the presence of one or more alcohols A of formula R 4 —OH, where R 4 is defined as above.