Process for the preparation of substituted cyanophenoxy-pyrimidinyloxy-phenyl acrylate derivatives

The present invention provides a process for reacting between a phenol derivative and an aromatic substrate under phenolate forming conditions comprising the following steps: (a) reacting a phenol derivative with a base in a polar organic solvent to obtain a phenolate salt, wherein water is removed form the reaction mixture during the reaction, (b) adding the aromatic substrate to the reaction mixture obtained in step (a), (c) heating the reaction mixture of step (b) to a temperature in the range of 80° to 1300° C., preferably, 90° to 1000° C. for 2 to 7 hours to obtain a phenoxy substituted aromatic substrate, (d) removing the solvent from the mixture of step (c) and optionally further isolating an purifying the phenoxy substituted aromatic substrate. Optionally, the removal of water during step (a) is in conjunction with partial removal of the organic solvent.