A crude product of 2-fluoro-3-hydroxypropionic acid ethyl ester (13.06 g) was dissolved in dichloromethane (300 ml). Imidazole (17.2 g, 252.57 mmol) and tert-butyldiphenylsilyl chloride (25 ml, 96.14 mmol) were added to the solution under cooling on ice, and the reaction solution was stirred for 18 hours while raising the reaction solution temperature to room temperature. Saturated sodium bicarbonate water was added to the reaction solution and the resultant was extracted with dichloromethane. The extract was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and the solvent was removed under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (hexane/ethyl acetate) to yield 17.98 g (three steps, 57%) of the title compound in the form of a colorless clear oily product.
