In the literature various procedures are known for the preparation of 1-substituted-5-hydroxymethylimidazoles , which are via oxidative desulfurization 3 of 1-substituted-2-mercapto-5-hydroxymethylimidazole , selective alkylation of 4-hydroxymethylimidazole, 4 and less commonly, via the reduction 5 of 5-substituted-1-carboxylates. Among these methods, the last two routes are not viable for the large-scale preparation due to the lack of bulk availablility of 4-hydroxymethylimidazole ...
