125 mL of THF and 24 g of diisopropylamine were charged and cooled to −15° C. 168 mL of 1.2 N n-BuLi was added at −15 to −5° C. and was stirred for 30 minutes. 21.56 g of tert-butyl acetate in 45 mL of THF, which was pre-cooled to −45° C., was added maintaining the temperature between −45 to −25° C. for 60 minutes. The reaction mixture was cooled to −45° C. and 30 g of methyl 4-triphenylmethyloxy-3-hydroxybutyrate in THF was added over a period of 20 minutes and the stirring was continued at −25° C. for 90 minutes. Water was added and the layers were separated. The aqueous layer was extracted using EtOAc and the combined organic layers were washed with brine, water, dried and concentrated to give the title compound which was used as such for the next step.
