Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C.
Process for producing optically active 2-hydroxy-4-arylbutyric acid or its ester
 Provided is an industrially useful process for producing an optically active 2-hydroxy-4-arylbutyric acid or its ester. An optically active acyloxysuccinic anhydride is reacted with an aromatic compound in the presence of a Lewis acid to produce an optically active 2-acyloxy-4-oxo-4-arylbutyric acid. The 2-acyloxy-4-oxo-4-arylbutyric acid is converted to an optically active 2-acyloxy-4-arylbutyric acid through catalytic reduction. The 2-acyloxy-4-arylbutyric acid is hydrolyzed in the presence of an acid or an alkali to produce an optically active 2-hydroxy-4-arylbutyric acid. The 2-hydroxy-4-arylbutyric acid is reacted with an alcohol in the presence of an acid to produce an optically active 2-hydroxy-4-arylbutyric acid ester. 
Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
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inventional inventional inventional inventional
Masahiko Takashi Hiroyuki Yoshimasa Kunisuke
Kurauchi Nakano Matsueda Hagiwara Izawa