The invention discloses a preparation method of a pyroxsulam intermediate, which comprises the following steps: (1) carrying out
condensation reaction on 4-alkoxy-1,1,1-trifluoro-3-buten-2-one and phosphonoacetic acid trialkyl ester in an
alcohol solvent in the presence of
sodium alcoholate to generate an intermediate 3-
trifluoromethyl-5,5-dialkoxy pentenoic acid
alkyl ester and an isomer of the intermediate 3-
trifluoromethyl-5,5-dialkoxy pentenoic acid
alkyl ester; and (2) carrying out cyclization reaction on the intermediate generated in the step (1) and
ammonium acetate in the presence of a
polymerization inhibition catalyst to generate 2-hydroxy-4-trifluoromethylpyridine. According to the method disclosed by the invention,
hydroquinone and other
polymerization inhibition catalysts are added in the cyclization process, so that
polymerization side reaction of a condensation intermediate containing double bonds can be avoided, and the reaction yield and the product purity of the cyclization reaction are ensured. Meanwhile, the 4-butoxy-1,1,1-trifluoro-3-buten-2-one and the phosphonoacetic acid trimethyl ester are adopted as the
condensation reaction raw materials, so that not only can higher
condensation reaction yield be obtained, but also the cost is lower, and the safety is higher.