as mentioned hereinabove , the present synthesis follows the widely used strategy of incorporating the three substituted - phenyl groups into the chiral compound of formula ( iv ), which is then cyclized to form the azetidinone . the reaction scheme is as shown below . the synthesis begins with the compound of formula ( i ). in most instances this is the preferred starting material and can be prepared by any suitable means of synthesis . thus the ketone ( i ), comprising the 4 - phenyloxazolidinone chiral auxiliary , is treated with a hydroxylamine or its o - alkyl derivative to protect the ketone as an oxime . the starting material can be dissolved in any suitable solvent , preferably an alcohol , and is reacted with a hydroxylamine or its derivative . the reaction is carried out in the presence of a base , wherein an inorganic or an organic base may be used . periodic sampling to determine the amount of unreacted ketone could be done in order to determine reaction completion . however the reaction was found to be complete after 8 - 12 hours . if hydroxylamine is used to make the oxime , then the free hydroxyl group of the oxime may be optionally protected . any suitable hydroxyl protecting group could be used such as an alkyl or silyl protecting group and this compound may be taken forward for further reactions . the oxime ( ii ) can be carried forward for further steps . when the oxime was isolated it was found to exist predominantly as the e - isomer . 92 . 6 % e - isomer for the oxime formed with o - methyl hydroxylamine . however , for purposes of this invention , as the oxime only serves to protect the ketone functionality , the percentage of e / z isomers is immaterial to the present synthesis . accordingly the separation of these isomers is not envisaged and both isomers are taken forward for subsequent steps in the manufacturing process . the oxime is then reacted with the imine ( iii ), wherein the phenolic group is protected by any suitable protecting group known in the art , to form the β - substituted amino amide ( iv ). this reaction is carried out in the presence of ticl 4 and titanium isopropoxide in any suitable solvent . preferred solvents are dichloromethane and methyl tertiary butyl ether ( mtbe ). the product obtained is then treated with n , o - bis ( trimethylsilyl ) acetamide ( bsa ) and tetrabutylammonium fluoride ( tbaf ) in a solvent medium to form the β - lactam ring . the solvent medium that is preferred for this step is toluene , dichloromethane or mtbe . the product of this reaction step is the azetidinone of formula ( v ). this compound is deprotected to bring back the ketone functionality . the deprotection may be carried out under acidic conditions and if desired the phenolic protecting group may also be removed at this stage . in the next step , the ketone ( vi ) is reduced stereospecifically . many such reductions are known and have been reported for the synthesis of the azetidinone ( viii ). one such reduction is with chiral borane that is already disclosed in the product patent re37721 and which the present inventors have used herein . the resulting alcohol ( vii ) is then subjected to a final deprotection of the phenolic group if it had not already been done before to yield the 1 , 4 - diphenylazetidinone ( viii ). this 1 , 4 - diphenylazetidinone ( viii ) that is obtained can be purified by crystallization or any other purification technique . needless to say , a person skilled in the art would contemplate different oxime protections for the ketone and different protecting groups for the phenolic — oh . this invention includes all such variations and procedural modifications . the process of the invention is further illustrated in the following examples . these examples are not to be construed to be limiting in any way . 100 g of ( 4s )- 3 -[ 5 -( 4 - fluorophenyl )- 5 - oxopentanoyl )]- 4 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - oxazolidin - 2 - one was added to 450 ml of denatured ethanol . to this solution was added 30 . 5 g of the hydrochloride salt of o - methyl hydroxylamine and 51 . 3 ml of triethylamine . this reaction mixture at room temperature was heated to 80 - 85 ° c . and maintained at this temperature for about 10 hrs . at this time the reaction was found to be complete and the reaction mixture was allowed to cool to 45 - 50 ° c . after which the solvent was distilled off under vacuum . the solid mass that was left behind was dissolved in 500 ml of dichloromethane and washed twice with water ( 200 ml ). the organic solvent containing the product was concentrated to an oil and 400 ml of hexane was added to it . this mixture was stirred for about an hour and then filtered to give the title compound as a mixture of e and z isomers ( 92 . 6 : 7 . 3 ), ( 95 g ) m . p . : 73 ° c . if desired the e and z isomers may be separated from the mixture by column chromatography ( e . g . silica gel , ( 60 - 120 mesh ) with hexane - ethyl acetate 9 : 1 as the eluant ). identification of the isomers was done by nmr . δ 7 . 85 - 7 . 55 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 50 - 7 . 10 ( m , 7h ), 5 . 45 ( dd , j = 3 . 01 and 5 . 34 hz , 1h ), 4 . 72 ( t , j = 8 . 66 hz , 1h ), 4 . 17 ( dd , j = 10 . 63 and 3 . 22 hz , 1h ), 3 . 87 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 91 ( t , j = 6 . 94 hz , 2h ), 2 . 71 ( t , j = 7 . 61 hz , 2h ), 1 . 67 ( quintet , j = 7 . 37 hz , 2h ). 50 g of ( 4s )- 3 -[ 5 -( 4 - fluorophenyl )- 5 - oxopentanoyl )]- 4 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - oxazolidin - 2 - one was added to 100 ml of isopropanol . to this solution was added 19 . 4 g of hydroxylamine hydrochloride and 58 . 4 g of anhydrous potassium carbonate . this reaction mixture at room temperature was heated to reflux and stirred at this temperature for about 2 - 4 hrs . at this time the reaction was found to be complete and the reaction mixture was allowed to cool to 45 - 50 ° c . after which the solvent was distilled off under vacuum . the solid mass that was left behind was washed with water and crystallized using 250 ml of isopropanol . 60 g of the oxime ( product of example 1 ) was dissolved in dichloromethane ( 120 ml ). to this solution was added ticl 4 ( 18 . 0 ml ) and titanium isopropoxide ( 15 . 0 ml ) in dichloromethane ( 780 ml ) in an atmosphere of nitrogen . the reaction mixture was stirred for 30 - 40 min . at − 5 to 0 ° c ., diisopropylethylamine ( 58 . 5 ml ) was added and stirring was continued for 1 hr at the same temperature . this was then cooled further to about − 25 ° c . and 4 - benzyloxybenzylidine -( 4 - fluoro ) aniline ( 103 . 4 g ) was added to it . the reaction mixture was stirred for another 5 - 6 hrs at the same temperature after which a mixture of acetic acid ( 60 ml ) and dichloromethane ( 120 ml ) was added dropwise over 20 - 25 min . this mixture was warmed to 0 ° c . and 2n h 2 so 4 ( 300 ml ) was added dropwise over 20 - 25 min . the mixture was then warmed to 20 - 25 ° c . and stirring was continued for 1 hr , the layers were separated and the organic layer was washed with water ( 300 ml ) and brine ( 20 % soln ., 300 ml ). the solvent was distilled off u . v . to leave an oil which was crystallized from a mixture of ethyl acetate ( 240 ml ) and n - heptane ( 1200 ml ) to give a solid product ( 70 g ). m . p . : 135 - 137 ° c . δ 7 . 54 - 7 . 11 ( m , 16h ), 6 . 95 - 6 . 70 ( m , 4h ), 6 . 68 - 6 . 50 ( m , 2h ), 5 . 97 ( d , 1h ), 5 . 60 ( dd , j = 4 . 45 & amp ; 3 . 63 , 1h ), 5 . 02 ( s , 2h ), 4 . 78 ( t , j = 8 . 73 , 1h ), 4 . 48 - 4 . 30 ( m , 2h ), 4 . 20 - 4 . 08 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 83 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 85 - 2 . 52 ( m , 3h ), 1 . 67 ( bs , 1h ). 25 g of the oxime ( product of example 2 ) was dissolved in dichloromethane ( 375 ml ) and the imine ( iii ) ( 29 g ) was added to it . the solution was cooled to − 10 to − 5 ° c . diisopropylethyl amine ( 61 . 3 ml ) was added slowly to this solution followed by trimethyl silyl chloride ( 28 . 5 ml ). the temperature of the reaction medium was maintained at − 10 to − 5 ° c . and stirred till completion of the reaction . after completion of the reaction , the reaction mass was cooled to − 30 to − 25 ° c . and titanium tetrachloride ( 8 . 2 ml ) was added slowly . the reaction mixture was stirred for 3 - 6 hrs at − 30 to − 25 ° c . after completion of the reaction glacial acetic acid was added to it at − 20 to − 25 ° c . the reaction mixture was quenched in 7 % of tartaric acid solution ( 430 ml ) at 0 ° c . and the temperature was raised to 25 - 30 ° c . the reaction mixture was stirred for 2 - 3 hrs at this temperature and 20 % sodium bisulphate solution ( 125 ml ) was added to it . stirring was continued for 2 - 3 hrs at room temperature and then the dichloromethane layer was separated and washed with 125 ml of water . dichloromethane was distilled out under vacuum completely and fresh dichloromethane was added . n , o - bis ( trimethylsilyl ) acetamide ( bsa ) 23 . 5 ml was added to the dcm solution , which was then refluxed for 1 hr . the dcm was recovered , a mixture of ethyl acetate ( 25 ml ) and n - heptane ( 125 ml ) was added to the reaction mass and stirred at room temperature for 1 - 2 hrs . the solid was filtered , washed with 25 ml of n - heptane and dried . 25 g of the product of example 4 was added to 325 ml methyl tertiary butyl ether . 30 ml of n , o - bis ( trimethylsilyl ) acetamide and tbaf solution in tetrahydrofuran ( 5 mole %) was added to it and the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 - 4 hrs . after completion of the reaction , glacial acetic acid was added to it and the solvent was distilled off under vacuum to get an oil . 2n sulphuric acid ( 25 ml ) and isopropyl alcohol ( 250 ml ) were added to the above oil . the reaction mass was stirred at room temperature for 1 - 3 hrs . the solid was filtered , washed with 10 ml of ipa and dried . 23 g of the product of example 3 was dissolved in toluene ( 345 ml ) and warmed to 50 ° c . to this solution was added 46 ml of n , o - bis ( trimethylsilyl ) acetamide ( bsa ). the reaction mixture was stirred for 1 hr at 50 ° c . after which 3 . 35 g of tetrabutylammonium fluoride ( 1m in thf ) was added . after 4 hrs the reaction mixture was cooled to 15 - 20 ° c ., 25 ml of meoh was added to it followed by 46 ml of 1n hcl , the layers were separated and the organic layer was washed with water ( 92 ml ) and brine ( 20 %, 92 ml ). the solvent was distilled off u . v . to leave an oil that was purified by flash chromatography to afford a liquid product . ( 15 g ) b . p . : 105 ° c . δ7 . 67 - 7 . 60 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 44 - 7 . 23 ( m , 10h ), 7 . 10 - 6 . 91 ( m , 6h ), 5 . 10 ( s , 2h ) 4 . 63 ( d , j = 2 . 0 , 1h ), 3 . 90 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 20 ( t , j = 6 . 20 , 1h ), 2 . 93 ( t , j = 7 . 8 , 2h ), 2 . 14 ( m , 2h ) 500 g of the product obtained in example 6 was dissolved in a mixture of acetone and 1 , 4 - dioxane ( 1 : 1 , 10 ml ). 5m hcl ( 1 ml ) was added to it and the reaction mixture was heated for 6 hrs at 90 - 95 ° c . the reaction mixture was cooled to 45 - 50 ° c . and the solvent was distilled off u . v . to give an oil that was dissolved in dichloromethane , washed with water ( 2 ml ) and brine ( 10 %, 2 ml ). again solvent was distilled off and the resulting oil was purified by flash chromatography . to a 20 ml solution of ethanol and water ( 1 : 1 ) was added 2 g of compound of formula ( v ). 0 . 85 ml of formic acid was added to it followed by sodium bisulphate ( 3 . 4 g ). the reaction mixture was refluxed for 2 - 4 hrs . after completion of the reaction , the solvent was distilled off and the reaction mass was extracted with ethyl acetate . ethyl acetate was then distilled off to yield the product . borane - dimethylsulfide complex in thf ( 0 . 5 ml , 5 . 2 mmole ) was cooled to about − 10 ° c . and ( r )- tetrahydro - 1 - methyl - 3 , 3 - diphenyl - 1h , 3h - pyrrolo [ 1 , 2 - c ][ 1 , 3 , 2 ] oxazaborolidine ( 0 . 2 ml , 1m in toluene ) was added to it slowly . after stirring for 15 - 20 min . the ketone ( vi ) ( 2 g ) was added to it and the reaction mixture was stirred for another 3 hrs at 0 - 5 ° c . the reaction was quenched with meoh ( 2 ml ) and 1n hcl ( 5 ml ) was added after 0 . 5 hr . after stirring for another 0 . 5 hr at 5 - 10 ° c ., the product was extracted with ethyl acetate ( 50 ml ). this solution as washed with brine ( 20 ml × 2 ) and concentrated to an oil , which was purified by flash chromatography . 1 g of the alcohol ( vii ) was taken in meoh ( 25 ml ) and ammonium formate ( 1 . 5 g ) and 10 % pd / c ( 150 g ) was added to it . the ph was adjusted to 3 - 4 with glacial acetic acid ( 2 ml ) and the reaction mixture was warmed to 55 - 60 ° c . after stirring it at this temperature under nitrogen for 3 hrs , the mixture was filtered through celite . the filtrate was concentrated to an oil , which was added to a mixture of ethyl acetate ( 25 ml ) and water ( 10 ml ). the organic layer was separated , washed with brine ( 20 %, 5 ml × 2 ) and distilled off . the oil obtained was crystallized with aq . etoh and re - crystallized with isopropanol - water .