Patent ID: 8481759

Claim:
A process for producing a compound represented by formula (a), which is wine lactone or a stereoisomer thereof or a mixture thereof: wherein said process comprises: A) the step of reacting a β-keto ester represented by formula (1): [wherein R 1 is an alkyl group containing 1 to 4 carbon atoms] with a 2-halo ester represented by formula (2): [wherein R 2 is an alkyl group containing 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and X is a chlorine atom or a bromine atom] under basic conditions to obtain a 2-aceto-3-methyl-succinic acid ester represented by formula (3): [wherein R 1 is as defined in formula (1), and R 2 is as defined in formula (2)]; B-1) the step of reacting the 2-aceto-3-methyl-succinic acid ester obtained in step A) with methyl vinyl ketone under basic conditions, followed by hydrolysis to obtain an α-methyl-γ-keto acid represented by formula (4): and C) the step of reducing the α-methyl-γ-keto acid obtained in step B-1) to obtain the compound represented by formula (a).