BigPatents India

This invention provides a novel process for regioselective demethylation of 3’’4’’5’-trimethoxy benzoic acid ester of a phenol/3’’4’’5’-trimethoxy diaryl ketone moiety using a lewis acid and organic solvent. The process is also applicable to some natural products also. A simple, economical, selective and high-yielding procedure for the rapid demethylation of p-methyl ethers has been developed using reagents and solvents suitable for production of medicinal products. This procedure is superior to other demethylation methodologies. The method should prove generally useful for the rapid demethylation of p-hydroxy aryl methyl ethers. The reaction will be very useful in synthesizing analogs of some natural products.