Patent ID: 8212034

Claim:
An improved process for preparing (2E)-3-[4-(4-fluorophenyl)-6-isopropyl-2-(N-methyl-N-methylsulfonylamino)pyrimidin-5-yl]-propenal of Formula I, which comprises: a) reacting 4-(4-fluorophenyl)-6-isopropyl-2-(N-methyl-N-methylsulfonylamino)pyrimidin-5-yl]-carboxaldehyde of Formula III, with a compound of Formula IV a or Formula IV b, in an inert organic solvent wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , represents phenyl, substituted phenyl, R 4 represents an aliphatic residue selected from C 1-4 alkyl, R 5 and R 6 represent C 1-4 alkyl, aralkyl, phenyl and substituted phenyl to obtain a compound of Formula V, wherein R 4 is as defined above, b) converting the compound of Formula V with an aqueous base in a water miscible solvent to give a compound of Formula VI, wherein M represents hydrogen or alkali metal, c) treating the compound of Formula VI with a compound of Formula VII, X represents halogen and R represents C 1-4 alkyl in the presence of an organic base in an inert solvent to give a compound of Formula VIII, wherein R is as defined above, d) reducing the compound of Formula VIII to give a (2E)-3-[4-(4-fluorophenyl)-6-isopropyl-2-(N-methyl-N-methylsulfonylamino)pyrimidin-5-yl]propen-1-ol of Formula IX, e) oxidizing the compound of Formula IX to give 3-[4-(4-fluorophenyl)-6-isopropyl-2-(N-methyl-N-methylsulfonylamino)pyrimidin-5-yl]-propenal of Formula I.