the present invention features a process of producing an aldehyde of the formula 1 : p 1 is hydrogen or a hydroxyl protecting group ; r x is hydrogen , halo , or r 2 — x — nr 1 — c ( o )—; r 1 is hydrogen or lower alkyl ; x is a single bond , a heteroatom group selected from o , s , so , so 2 , and nh or loweralkylene or lowerlalkylene wherein each may be intervened by a heteroatom ; r 2 is optionally substituted aryl ; and a is alkyl or aryl , i ) reacting pyrone 2 with an aldehyde of formula a - cho to produce the alcohol 3 ; ii ) reacting the alcohol 3 with a dehydrating reagent to produce the triene 4 ; and iii ) reacting the triene 4 with an oxidating reagent to produce the aldehyde of formula 1 . the present invention also features a process as described above , wherein p 1 and r x are hydrogen , a is phenyl and the wavy line bond in triene 4 is a trans bond . another preferable aspect is that p 1 is hydroxyl protecting group , r x is hydrogen , a is phenyl and the wavy line bond in triene 4 is a trans bond . the present invention also features a process as described above , wherein step ( i ) is conducted in the presence of a base . the present invention also features a process as described above , wherein step ( ii ) is conducted in the presence of base . the present invention also features a process as described above , wherein the oxidating reagent is preferably ruthenium reagent . the ruthenium reagent is preferably ruthenium tetroxide generated in situ . the term “ lower alkyl ”, alone or in combination with any other term , refers to a straight - chain or branched - chain saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon radical containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms . examples of alkyl radicals include , but are not limited to , methyl , ethyl , n - propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , isobutyl , sec - butyl , tert - butyl , pentyl , isoamyl , n - hexyl and the like . the term “ lower alkyl ” is preferably c1 - c4 alkyl . the term “ lower alkylene ” refers to a straight or branched chain divalent hydrocarbon radical , preferably having from one to six carbon atoms , unless otherwise defined . examples of “ alkylene ” as used herein include , but are not limited to , methylene , ethylene , propylene , butylene , isobutylene and the like . the term “ lower alkylene ” is preferably c1 - c4 alkylene . the term “ lower alkenylene ” refers to a straight or branched chain divalent hydrocarbon radical , one or two carbon - carbon double bonds . the term “ lower alkenylene ” is preferably c2 - c4 alkylene the term “ halo ” or “ halogen ” refers fluorine ( f ), chlorine ( cl ), bromine ( br ), or iodine ( i ). the term “ aryl ” alone or in combination with any other term , refers to a carbocyclic aromatic moiety ( such as phenyl or naphthyl ) containing 6 carbon atoms , and more preferably from 6 - 10 carbon atoms . examples of aryl radicals include , but are not limited to , phenyl , naphthyl , indenyl , azulenyl , fluorenyl , anthracenyl , phenanthrenyl , tetrahydronaphthyl , indanyl , phenanthridinyl and the like . unless otherwise indicated , the term “ aryl ” also includes each possible positional isomer of an aromatic hydrocarbon radical , such as in 1 - naphthyl , 2 - naphthyl , 5 - tetrahydronaphthyl , 6 - tetrahydronaphthyl , 1 - phenanthridinyl , 2 - phenanthridinyl , 3 - phenanthridinyl , 4 - phenanthridinyl , 7 - phenanthridinyl , 8 - phenanthridinyl , 9 - phenanthridinyl and 10 - phenanthridinyl . examples of aryl radicals include , but are not limited to , phenyl , naphthyl , indenyl , azulenyl , fluorenyl , anthracenyl , phenanthrenyl , tetrahydronaphthyl , indanyl , phenanthridinyl and the like . the term “ aralkyl ” refers to an alkyl group substituted by an aryl . examples of aralkyl groups include , but are not limited to , benzyl and phenethyl . the term “ aryl ” is preferably phenyl . optional substituents on aryl are one or two group selected from hydroxy , halogen , amino and lower alkyl . “ hydroxyl protecting group ” may be selected from groups known to those skilled in the art , including protecting groups disclosed in greene , theodora w . ; wuts , peter g . m . protective groups in organic synthesis . 2nd ed . ( 1991 ), 473 pp . or kocienski , philip j . protecting groups . 3rd ed . 2005 , ( 2005 ), 679 pp . preferred is alkyl or arylalkyl ( e . g ., benzyl ). the starting material of the invention process may be a pyrone of the following formula 2 : r x is hydrogen , halo such as br , or r 2 — x — nr 1 — c ( o )—; x is a single bond , a heteroatom group selected from o , s , so , so 2 , and nh or loweralkylene or lowerlalkylene wherein each may be intervened by a heteroatom ; and in one of preferable embodiments , p 1 is hydroxyl protecting group such as arylalkyl ( e . g ., benzyl (: bn )), r x is hydrogen . for the aldehyde a - cho used in step ( i ) to produce the alcohol 3 , a may be an alkyl or aryl group such as methyl , ethyl , n - propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , isobutyl , sec - butyl , tert - butyl , pentyl , isoamyl , n - hexyl , phenyl or substituted phenyl and preferred is phenyl : the step ( i ) is conducted preferably in the presence of a base such as lihmds , nahmds , khmds , lda , kda , naoet or kotbu and preferred is lihmds . the reaction is conducted at about − 100 ° c . to under ice - cooling and preferably at − 80 ° c . to − 50 ° c . the reaction solvent is such as thf , dme , diglyme , tbme , or cpme and preferably thf . the product of the elimination step ( ii ) is the triene 4 wherein the wavy bond depicted is indicative of either a cis or trans configuration , preferably trans being the expected product : the step ( ii ) is conducted preferably in the presence of a base such as et 3 n , ipr 2 net , or dbu . more preferably , compound 3 may be activated in advance by an activating reagent such as mesylating ( e . g ., mscl ), tosylating reagent ( e . g ., tscl ) or chlorinating ( e . g ., socl 2 ). the reaction temperature is preferably 0 ° c . to 100 ° c ., preferably 0 ° c . to 40 ° c ., more preferably around room temperature . the reaction solvent is preferably thf , dme , dmf , dma , nmp or mecn , and more preferably thf . the catalytic system used in step ( iii ) to produce the aldehyde 1 may be oxidating reagent , preferably ruthenium reagent . the ruthenium reagent is preferably ruthenium tetroxide , which may be generated in situ from rucl 3 / naio 4 or rucl 3 / hio 4 . in the above formulas 3 , 4 and 1 , the moieties p 1 and r x are as defined for pyrone 2 and a in triene 4 is as defined for alcohol 3 . a further aspect of the invention is the step of oxidizing the aldehyde of formula 1 to yield the carboxylic acid of formula 5 in a step ( iv ): wherein p 1 and r x are as defined above for the pyrone of formula 2 . in step ( iv ), the oxidizing reagent used in step ( iv ) is preferably sodium chlorite or sodium hypochlorite . the reaction temperature is preferably 0 ° c . to 100 ° c ., preferably 0 ° c . to 40 ° c ., more preferably 5 ° c . to 20 ° c . the reaction solvent is preferably dmf , mecn , acoet , water or a mixture thereof etc . also part of the present invention are novel intermediates such as those novel compounds of formulae 3 and 4 . the present invention also features an alcohol of the following formula 3 : p 1 is hydrogen or a hydroxyl protecting group ; r x is hydrogen , halo , or r 2 — x — nr 1 — c ( o )—; r 1 is hydrogen or lower alkyl ; x is a single bond , a heteroatom group selected from o , s , so , so 2 , and nh or loweralkylene or lowerlalkylene wherein each may be intervened by a heteroatom ; r 2 is optionally substituted aryl ; and a may be an alkyl or aryl group such as methyl , ethyl , n - propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , isobutyl , sec - butyl , tert - butyl , pentyl , isoamyl , n - hexyl , phenyl or substituted phenyl and preferred is phenyl : an alcohol as described above , wherein p 1 and r x are hydrogen , and a is phenyl is included within the invention . the present invention features a triene of the following formula 4 : p 1 is hydrogen or a hydroxyl protecting group ; r x is hydrogen , halo , or r 2 — x — nr 1 — c ( o )—; r 1 is hydrogen or lower alkyl ; x is a single bond , a heteroatom group selected from o , s , so , so 2 , and nh or loweralkylene or lowerlalkylene wherein each may be intervened by a heteroatom ; r 2 is optionally substituted aryl ; and a may be an alkyl or aryl group such as methyl , ethyl , n - propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , isobutyl , sec - butyl , tert - butyl , pentyl , isoamyl , n - hexyl , phenyl or substituted phenyl and preferred is phenyl : and the wavy line bond is either cis or trans . in the triene as described above , p 1 and r x may be hydrogen , a may be phenyl and the wavy line bond may be trans . the present invention features a process for producing a carboxylic acid of the following formula 5 : p 1 is hydrogen or a hydroxyl protecting group ; r x is hydrogen , halo , or r 2 — x — nr 1 — c ( o )—; r 1 is hydrogen or lower alkyl ; x is a single bond , a heteroatom group selected from o , s , so , so 2 , and nh or loweralkylene or lowerlalkylene wherein each may be intervened by a heteroatom ; r 2 is optionally substituted aryl ; and a may be an alkyl or aryl group such as methyl , ethyl , n - propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , isobutyl , sec - butyl , tert - butyl , pentyl , isoamyl , n - hexyl , phenyl or substituted phenyl and preferred is phenyl : i ) reacting pyrone 2 with an aldehyde of formula a - cho to produce the alcohol 3 ; ii ) reacting the alcohol 3 with a dehydrating reagent to produce the triene 4 ; iii ) reacting the triene 4 with a ruthenium reagent to produce the aldehyde of formula 1 : and iv ) oxidizing the aldhyde of formula 1 to produce the carboxylic acid of formula 5 . page 113 of wo 2006 / 116764 going from 2 to 100 to 101 with the narratives 1 ) and 2 ) of page 113 . to the solution of 2000 g of maltol in mecn ( 14 l ) was added bnbr ( 2848 . 2 g ) and k 2 co 3 ( 2630 . 3 g ) at room temperature . ( around 23 ° c .) after addition of reagent , the temperature of the reaction mixture was getting high . this reaction mixture was kept at 80 ° c . for 5 hr and then cooled down to room temperature . the reaction mixture was filtered and washed with mecn ( 3 l , 1 l , 1 l ). filtration was concentrated and added thf 2 l and concentrated again . ( check the kf 1 . 33 %). thf 1 . 5 l was added to the residue and concentrate again . ( kf = 0 . 135 %) to the solution of 2a ( 2300 g ) in thf 14 . 9 l was cooled down to − 60 ° c . and added lihmds 12 . 5 l and phcho ( 1273 . 4 g ) in thf 2 . 0 l . ( temp : − 60 ° c .). the reaction mixture was stirred for 1 hr at − 60 ° c . this reaction mixture was poured into ice water 19 . 5 l ( 9v ) and conc . hcl 2 . 9 l ( 1 . 34v ) and acoet 10 . 8 l ( 5v ). the organic layer was washed with h 2 o 6 . 3 l twice and concentrated and toluene was added 4 l and concentrated again . to this residue was added toluene 4 l and cooled down to 0 ° c . the suspension was filterated and washed with toluene 2 l . 2326 g of 3a was obtained ( 72 % from maltol ). to the solution of 3a and tea in thf ( 8 . 8 l ) was added dropwise mscl at room temperature . ( 22 . 8 ° c .- 29 ° c .) and stirred for 30 min . ( tlc check ). after addition of nmp to this reaction mixture , dbu was added dropwise over 1 hr . ( 25 - 27 ° c . ), followed by dropwise addition of 1 . 76 l solution : 1 : 4 mixture of 62 % h 2 so 4 : 13 % nacl . ( 16 - 27 ° c .) the reaction mixture was extracted with acoet , and the extracts was washed with 2 % na 2 so 3 aq . the organic layer was evaporated in vaccuo and 5v of toluene was added , again evaporated . evaporation was stopped when volume was reduced to ca 2v . after crystalline appears ( seeding is preferred ), 6v of hexane was added and cooled with an ice bath . crystalline solid was collected by filtration and washed with 2v of hexane . a second lot was conducted and 1559 . 6 g of compound 4a was obtained ( 93 . 6 % yield ). to the ice - cooled stirring mixture of 4a , ch 3 cn , acoet , and h 2 o was added rucl 3 , nh 2 o . following addition of naio 4 powder was conducted portionwisely during 4 hours . ( 6 - 18 ° c .) to provide a mixture of 1a . after stirring the reaction mixture from example 1 . 3 for 2 hours , naclo 2 powder was added during 2 hours . temperature was kept below 16 ° c . during this addition and the mixture was stirred for 1 hour after addition . insoluble was filtered off and washed with acoet . the filtrate was diluted with 50 % na 2 s 2 o 3 aq . and acidified with hcl to ph = 2 ( ca .). organic layer was separated and concentrated in vaccuo . 2 l of toluene was added to the residue and about 1 l was evaporated off . the rest of the solution was cooled with ice bath and crystalline solid was collected by filtration . a second lot was conducted and gave 688 g of compound of formula 5a where p 1 and r x are both h in 48 . 8 % yield . to a mixture of 10 . 0 g of compound 4a and 13 . 6 mg of rucl 3 . nh 2 o in 95 ml of mecn and 10 ml of water , mixture of 155 ml of water , 7 . 2 g of hydrosulfuric acid , and 15 . 5 g of naio 4 was added for 2 . 5 h at 20 ° c . after aging for 1 h , organic and aqueous layers were separated and aqueous layer was extracted by 30 ml of acoet . aqueous layer was extracted again by 30 ml of ethyl acetate and organic layers were combined . 6 ml of 5 % nahso 3 solution was added to the combined organic layer and the layers were separated . the organic layer was adjusted to ph 6 . 0 by adding 4 . 0 g of 2m naoh solution and the aqueous layer was separated . after 60 ml of 5 % nahco 3 solution and 257 mg of tempo was added , 25 . 9 g of naclo solution was added to the reaction mixture at 25 ° c . for 1 h and stirred for 30 min to check the reaction was finished . after the layers were separated , 42 . 5 ml of 5 % na 2 so 3 solution and 30 ml of acoet were added and separated . the aqueous layer was extracted by 30 ml of acoet and separated . 12 % h 2 so 4 was added to the reaction mixture at 20 ° c . for 1 h and the mixture was cooled to 5 ° c . after the mixture was stirred for 30 min , the mixture was filtered , washed with 30 ml of water twice and dried to provide 5 . 7 g of compound 5a ( 70 % yield ) as a crystal . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ 7 . 78 ( d , j = 5 . 7 hz , 1h ), 7 . 54 - 7 . 46 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 40 - 7 . 26 ( m , 3h ), 6 . 48 ( d , j = 5 . 7 hz , 1h ), 5 . 6 ( brs , 1h ), 5 . 31 ( s , 2h ).