| abstract |
Benzene derivatives of the formula (I); n n n n n n n n n n n n wherein R 1 and R 2 , are the same or different and independently are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, aralkyl, —CHO, —CH 2 OR 3 , —CH(OR 4 )(OR 5 ) and —COOR 6 , wherein R 3 , R 4 and R 5 are the same or different and are selected from hydrogen, alkyl, aryl, alkaryl, aralkyl, alkylcarbonyl or arylcarbonyl, or wherein R 4 and R 5 together form an alkylene group and wherein R 6 is selected from hydrogen, alkyl and aryl, are prepared in a process, which comprises: n reacting a furan derivative of formula (II): n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n wherein R 1 and R 2 have the meanings above, with ethylene under cycloaddition reaction conditions in the presence of an acid solvent to produce the benzene derivative, wherein the acid solvent is a carboxylic acid and is present in a weight ratio acid solvent to furan derivative from 1:1 to 250:1. |