A three-steplone-pot procedure was developed for preparing herbicidal fluorophenylproparginols from acetophenones by way of an enol phosphate intermediate. Side-by-side testing of 16 of the more active analogs showed that trans-2-methyl-l-[2-(4- methoxy-2, 3, 5, 6-tetrafluorophenyl) ethynyll-cyclohexanol (2112) was the most potent example. On the basis of the biological response data obtained for these first-tier analogs, ...
