TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The alkaline earth metal is magnesium, calcium and barium to form trityl olmesartan calcium, trityl olmesartan magnesium and trityl olmesartan barium. The base comprises lithium carbonate, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, sodium hydride, potassium hydride, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide or lithium hydroxide.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Process: The detritylation reaction is carried out with acid in the presence of immiscible solvents at 10-30 degrees C. The filtration of olmesartan medoxomil is carried out after detritylation. The resultant product is purified by recrystallization employing an organic solvent. The olmesartan medoxomil obtained contains less than 0.1% of the olmesartan acid impurity. Preferred Components: The organic solvent comprises acetone, acetonitrile, methyl isobutyl ketone or ethyl methyl ketone. The crystalline form of the trityl olmesartan calcium is characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern exhibiting peak values as given in the specification. ACTIVITY - Hypotensive.    MECHANISM OF ACTION - Angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist.    EXAMPLE - Ethyl-4-(1-hydroxy-1-methylethyl)-2-propyl-1-(4-(2-(trityltetrazole-5-yl)phenyl) phenyl) methylimidazole-5-carboxylate (500g) was suspended in isopropyl alcohol (2500 ml) and potassium hydroxide (80g) was added to form a mixture. The reaction mass was stirred, and isopropyl alcohol was distilled under reduced pressure. The residual mass was diluted with ethyl acetate and calcium chloride (100 g). The mixture was stirred for 10 hours, the precipitated material was filtered and washed with ethyl acetate to give trityl olmesartan calcium (475 g). The trityl olmesartan calcium salt (100 g), acetone (1000 ml), potassium carbonate (50g) and potassium iodide (5g) were subjected for reflux then 4-chloromethyl-5-methyl-1,3-dioxol-2-one (30g) solution in acetone was added at 50-55 degrees C. After completion of the reaction, the reaction mass was cooled and filtered to remove the salts. Filtered acetone was recovered and the residue obtained was dissolved in toluene and cone hydrochloric acid (55 ml) at -10 to -15 degrees C and monitored. After completion of reaction, filtered the reaction mass and wash with toluene. The residual material was suspended in ethyl acetate and washed with sodium bicarbonate solution. The ethyl acetate was partially distilled under reduced pressure to obtain the crude olmesartan medoxomil. The crude olmesartan medoxomil was purified with acetone to give pure olmesartan medoxomil (45 g).