To a stirred mixture of 84 parts of phosphoryl chloride and 540 parts of methylbenzene were added 20 parts of 3-(phenylmethoxy)-2-pyridinamine. The mixture was stirred at 50° C. and 22 parts of 3-acetyl-4,5-dihydro-2(3H)-furanone were added. The reaction mixture was stirred for 5 hours at 90° C. Another portion of 22 parts of 3-acetyl-4,5-dihydro-2(3H)-furanone was added and stirring was continued for 30 minutes at 90° C. The solution was allowed to stand overnight at 90° C. The whole was poured into crushed ice and treated with an ammonium hydroxide solution 25%. The product was extracted with trichloromethane. The extract was dried, filtered and evaporated. The residue was purified by column chromatography over silica gel using a mixture of trichloromethane and methanol (98:2 by volume) as eluent. The pure fractions were collected and the eluent was evaporated. The residue was stirred in 2-propanol. The product was filtered off, washed with a mixture of 2-propanol and 1,1'-oxybisethane and dried at 50° C., yielding 20.5 parts (62.3%) of 3-(2-chloroethyl)-2-methyl-9-(phenylmethoxy)-4H-pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-one; mp. 141.1° C. (intermediate 1)
