Patent 7985879 was granted and assigned to ScinoPharm Taiwan on July, 2011 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A novel process for the preparation of N-methyl-N-(2-[4-hydroxyphenyl]ethyl)-5-hydroxy-4-methoxy benzene carboxamide, which is useful as an intermediate in the synthesis of (−)-galantamine, comprises the reaction of a 5-hydroxy-4-methoxy benzoic acid derivative with N-methyl-N-(2-[4-hydroxyphenyl]ethyl) amine.