Patent ID: 8455700

Claim:
A process for preparing a phenylalkan-1-ols of the formula I the process comprising: reacting a compound of the formula II with a compound of the formula III in the presence of alkali metal and/or alkaline earth metal alcoholates, and a nonpolar solvent to obtain a β-keto ester of the formula IV; hydrogenating the a β-keto ester of the formula IV by selective hydrogenation with a palladium catalyst in the presence of hydrogen to produce an ester of the formula V and hydrogenating the ester of the formula V by addition of a hydrogen and a catalyst and obtaining a phenylalkan-1-ol of formula I, wherein R 1 is selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen, a branched, straight-chain or cyclic alkyl radical having 1 to 6 C atoms, a straight-chain, branched or cyclic alkyl radical which is substituted by heteroatoms and have 1 to 6 C atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl radical, an aryl radical substituted by heteroatoms, an unsubstituted alkoxy radical, an alkoxy radical substituted by heteroatoms, and a halogen radical, R 2 is selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen, a branched, straight-chain or cyclic alkyl radical having 1 to 6 C atoms, and a substituted or unsubstituted aryl radical, R 3 is a branched, straight-chain or cyclic alkyl radical having 1 to 6 C atoms, and R 4 is a branched, straight-chain or cyclic alkyl radical having 1 to 6 C atoms.