of 4 methoxy 3 pyrrolin 2 one and 10 8 g 100 mmol of benzyl alcohol were mixed with 0 4 g 4 mmol of methanesulfonic acid and stirred for 24 hours at 80 u00b0 c and 20 mbars then the reaction solution was mixed with 50 ml of ice water and 100 ml of methylene chloride and neutralized with 4 ml of saturated nahco 3 solution the aqueous phase was extracted twice with 50 ml of methylene chloride each after drying of the organic phase over na 2 so 4 and distilling off of the solvent the residue was mixed with 150 ml of ice water heated to 100 u00b0 c and azeotropically distilled off with 100 ml of water benzyl alcohol the crystals precipitated during cooling were recrystallized hot from 50 ml of toluene 6 7 g of white crystalline product with a melting point of 147 u00b0 to 148 u00b0 c was obtained nmr 300 mhz dmso d 6 in ppm 7 38 m 5h 6 20 br s 1h 5 16 s 1h 4 98 s 2h 3 98 s 2h ms 70 ev 189 m 40 172 18 132 51 91 100 1 0 g 5 3 mmol of 4 benzyloxy 3 pyrrolin 2 one was dissolved in 50 ml of tetrahydrofuran and hydrogenolyzed in the presence of 100 mg of pd c.