The reaction of 2-hydroxy-6-methoxybenzaldehyde (I) with ethyl 5-bromopentanoate (II) by means of K2CO3 and NaI in refluxing ethanol gives ethyl 5-(2-formyl-3-methoxyphenoxy)pentanoate (III), which is hydrolyzed with NaOH in ethanol - water yielding 5-(2-formyl-3-methoxyphenoxy)pentanoic acid (IV). Finally, this compound is demethylated by treatment with BCl3 in CH2Cl2.
The reaction of 2-hydroxy-6-benzyloxybenzaldehyde (V) with ethyl 5-bromopentanoate (II) by means of K2CO3 and NaI in refluxing ethanol gives ethyl 5-(2-formyl-3-benzyloxyphenoxy)pentanoate (VI), which is hydrolyzed with KOH in ethanol yielding 5-(2-formyl-3-benzyloxyphenoxy)pentanoic acid (VII) Finally, this compound is debenzylated by hydrogenation with H2 over Pd/c in ethanol.
The reaction of methyl 2,4-dihydroxy-3-formylbenzoate (VIII) with ethyl 5-bromopentanoate (II) by means of NaH in DMF gives ethyl 5-(2-formyl-3-hydroxy-4-methoxycarbonylphenoxy)pentanoate (IX), which is hydrolyzed with NaOH in water yielding 5-(2-formyl-3-hydroxy-4-carboxyphenoxy)pentanoic acid (X). Finally, this compound is decarboxylated by treatment with acidic alumina in refluxing dioxane-H2O or with copper in quinoline at 210 C.