TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The weak base comprises a carbonate salt and/or a bicarbonate salt. The carbonate salt comprises sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, lithium carbonate, calcium carbonate and/or magnesium carbonate. The bicarbonate salt comprises sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate and/or lithium hydrogen carbonate.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Process: The process further comprises: (a) coupling (VI) with a trialkyl orthoformate compound of formula (H-C(OR4)3) to provide a pyrazole-carboxylic acid ester compound of formula (R2-C(=O)-CH(=CH2-OR4)-C(=O)-OR1) (VII); and (b) reacting (VII) with methyl hydrazine hydrate or methyl hydrazine to provide a 1-methylpyrazole-4-carboxylic acid compound of formula (I). (V) is prepared by reacting a haloalkylacetate compound of formula (R2-C(=O)-OR) (III) with an alkyl acetate compound of formula (CH3-C(=O)-OR1) (IV) in the presence of an enolate of formula (R3O-M) to provide enolate salt of (V). The step (b) is conducted in a two phase solution comprising water and a water-immiscible organic solvent, at a temperature of -10?oC to 10?oC and in the presence of a weak base. The carbon dioxide is added to the water as gaseous carbon dioxide or solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) and forming carbonic acid in situ. (I) is purified in situ by precipitation from a solvent mixture. The pressure of the carbon dioxide is 0.1-5 kg/cm2. Preferred Components: The solvent mixture comprises toluene/petroleum ether, toluene/hexane, toluene/pentane, toluene/heptane, toluene/cyclohexane, toluene/ethyl acetate, toluene/isopropylacetate or toluene/butyl acetate. The water-immiscible organic solvent comprises toluene, xylene, pentane, hexane, heptane, cyclohexane and/or methyl tertiary butyl ethyl (MTBE).R4 = 1-6C-alkyl, preferably ethyl;R = 1-6C-alkyl; andR3 = methyl or ethyl (preferred). SPECIFIC COMPOUNDS - 1 Disclosed compound (VI) is prepared i.e. pentyl 4,4-difluoro-3-oxo-butanoate of formula (VIa).    EXAMPLE - 371 g of Water was added to a reaction mixture of sodium enolate of ethyl 2,2-difluoroacetoacetate in a reactor. 130 g of Dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) was added with slow stirring. Then the reactor was sealed and then slowly warmed by running water in a reactor jacket. The temperature was kept around 20?oC for 2-3 hours. The carbon dioxide gas was released and the precipitated sodium bicarbonate was filtered off. Solid sodium chloride was added to filtrate to provide a saturated aqueous solution. The two phases were separated. The aqueous phase was extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organic phases were evaporated to obtain 141 g of crude product of pentyl 4,4-difluoro-3-oxo-butanoate.