Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt
Sulfone aldehydes useful for producing .beta.-carotene
 Provided is a novel process for readily producing .beta.-carotene in which a sulfone compound represented by the general formula (1), (2) or (3) is reacted with an alkali, ##STR1## wherein R represents a phenyl group which may be substituted, R' a protecting group of acetal type and X a halogen atom. 
Kuraray Company Ltd.
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additional inventional inventional additional
Toshiki Hiroshi Takashi Kazuo
Mori Fujii Onishi Yamamoto