Intermediate hydroxyester (III) has been obtained as follows: Demethylation of (R)-carnitine (I) by thiophenol in dimethylaminoethanol, followed by precipitation with LiOH, gave lithium carboxylate (II), which was esterified to (III) by treatment either with H2SO4 in MeOH or with trimethyl orthoformate in refluxing methanol.
In a different procedure, treatment of olefin (VII) with N-bromosuccinimide produced bromohydrin (VIII), which was further oxidized to bromoketone (VI) by means of Jones reagent. Condensation of bromoketone (VI) with aminoalcohol (III) in nitromethane furnished the morpholine derivative (IX). The ester group was finally hydrolyzed with to yield the title compound.
The condensation of palmitoyl chloride (IV) with diazomethane produced diazoketone (V). This was then treated with HBr to yield bromoketone (VI).