Patent ID: 7601715

Claim:
A process for preparing compound IA having the structure where A is selected from the group consisting of C 1-6 alkoxy, aryl and heteroaryl; in which said aryl is phenyl or naphthyl; said heteroaryl is selected from the group consisting of pyridinyl, pyrimidinyl, pyrazinyl, triazinyl, furanyl, thienyl, pyrrolyl, imidazolyl, thiazolyl, isothiazolyl, oxazolyl, isoxazolyl, quinolinyl, isoquinolinyl, benzofuranyl, benzothienyl, benzoimidazolyl and benzothiazolyl; and said aryl or heteroaryl is optionally substituted with one or two of the same or different members selected from the group consisting of amino, nitro, cyano, hydroxy, C 1-6 alkoxy, —C(O)NH 2 , C 1-6 alkyl, —NHC(O)CH 3 , halogen and trifluoromethyl; and R 18 is H or alkyl; R 9 , R 10 , R 11 , R 12 , R 13 , R 14 , R 15 and R 16 are each independently H or (C 1-6 )alkyl which may be optionally substituted with 1 to 3 same or different halogens; which comprises reacting compound D having the structure with a compound of the structure in the presence of an organometallic base to form compound IA, wherein the reaction is carried out at a temperature within the range from about −10 to about 30° C. and where in compounds D and IA, R 2 is CH 3 O, R 1 is H and R 3 is H.