Patent ID: 7196209

Claim:
A continuous process for the preparation of a compound of formula (I) wherein X is selected from CH 2 or O; R 1 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and C 1-4 alkyl; R 3 , R 4 , R 5 and R 6 are each independently selected from hydrogen or lower alkyl and, when X is CH 2 , R 5 and R 6 may be alkene groups joined to form a benzene ring and, when X is O, R 3 and R 4 and/or R 5 and R 6 together may be a methylenedioxy group of the formula: wherein R 7 and R 8 are same or different and are hydrogen, lower alkyl or are alkyl and are joined to form a cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl ring; comprising (A) reacting a suitably substituted compound of formula (IV) with sulfuryl chloride; in the presence of an organic or inorganic base; in a first organic solvent; to form the corresponding compound of formula (V); and (B) continuously reacting the compound of formula (V) with a suitably substituted compound of formula (VI); in a second organic solvent; wherein the first organic solvent and the second organic solvent are each glyme; to form the corresponding compound of formula (I).