1 6 alkyl sulfonyl such as methyl sulfonyl ethyl sulfonyl and n butyl sulfonyl 8 loweralkyl especially c 1 6 alkyl such as methyl ethyl propyl t butyl pentyl benzyl cyclopropyl cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl 9 loweralkenyl especially c 2 6 alkenyl for example vinyl allyl and buten 2 yl 10 lower alkanoyl especially c 1 6 alkanoyl such as formyl acetyl or i propanoyl 13 aryl especially phenyl or substituted phenyl e g 4 methoxyphenyl 2 4 difluorophenyl or 3 chlorophenyl or 16 hydroxyloweralkyl especially hydroxy c 1 3 alkyl such as ch 2 oh 17 halo loweralkanoyl especially haloc 1 6 alkanoyl eq cf 3 co in a preferred embodiment of this invention the compounds are of formula i wherein in a more preferred embodiment of this invention the compounds are of formula i the novel compounds of the present invention are prepared from the following process for example str3 wherein m is k na or li this invention also relates to a method of treating inflammation in patients in need of such treatment generally a sufficient amount of a compound of formula i or a pharmaceutical composition thereof particularly an especially preferred compound is administered to the patient as the active constituent the rat foot edema assay cfe and the topical mouse ear assay were used.