After a mixture of 4-(5-methyl-2-phenyl-4-oxazolylmethoxy)benzyloxyamine (1.50 g), ethyl 8-oxo-8-phenyloctanoate (2.54 g), acetic acid (0.830 ml), sodium acetate (793 mg) and ethanol (40 ml) was heated to reflux for 18 hours, the mixture was cooled to room temperature. Water was added to the reaction mixture and extracted with ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate layer was washed with an aqueous saturated solution of sodium chloride, dried (MgSO4) and concentrated. The residue was subjected to silica gel chromatography to obtain ethyl E-8-[4-(5-methyl-2-phenyl-4-oxazolylmethoxy)benzyloxyimino]-8-phenyloctanoate (2.02 g, yield 76%) as a colorless oil from an ethyl acetate-hexane (1:5, v/v)-eluted fraction.
