It can be prepared in two different ways both starting from 5-fluorocytidine (I): 1) By reaction of (I) with partially hydrolyzed POCl3 in refluxing ethyl acetate (1), or DMF and acetonitrile (2). 2) By reaction of (I) with o-acetoxybenzoyl chloride or 2-acetoxy-iso-butyryl chloride in refluxing acetonitrile to give the acetoxy compound (III), which is hydrolyzed with methanolic HCl (3,4).