To a solution of (E)-4-(3-oxo-3-phenylethoxyprop-1-enyl)-1,2-phenylene diacetate (474 mg, 1.29 mmol, 1 equiv) in anhydrous THF (15 mL) was added pyrrolidine (catalytic amount). After stirring for 30 min at room temperature, water (10 mL) was added and the reaction mixture was extracted with EtOAc (20 mL). The combined organic layers were washed sequentially with 1N HCl (7 x 20 mL) and brine, dried over anhydrous Na2SO4 and concentrated under reduced pressure to afford phenethyl 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)acrylate (CAPE 3) as a yellow powder (36.7 mg, 75% yield). The melting point of the product was 125.5 °C. TLC showed Rf = 0.75 (silica gel plate, 40% EtOAc/cyclohexane as unfolding agent).1H NMR (400 MHz, acetone-d6) δ 8.36 (br s, 1H), 8.08 (br s, 1H), 7.60 (d, J = 15.0 Hz, 1H), 7.40 (dd, J = 9.0, 2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.35-7.28 (m, 5H), 7.25 (d, J = 2.0 Hz, 1H), 7.20 (d, J = 9.0 Hz, 1H), 6.30 (d, J = 15.0 Hz, 1H), 4.35 (t, J = 7.0 Hz, 2H), 2.90 (t, J = 7.0 Hz, 2H).13C NMR (101 MHz, acetone-d6) δ 167.4, 148.9, 148.4, 145.9, 139.4, 129.9, 129.4, 127.7, 127.3, 122.6, 116.5, 115.6, 115.3, 65.4, 35.9.