A solution of N-(2,3-dihydroxy-propoxy)-3,4-difluoro-2-(2-fluoro-4iodo-phenylamino)-benzamide (0.260 g, 0.539 mmol) and triethylamine (2.0 mL, 14.3 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran (14 mL) was hydrogenated over Raney Nickel (0.2 g wet) at 50 psig at room temperature for 20 hours. The catalyst was removed by filtration and the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo. The afforded residue was partitioned between ethyl acetate and water. The organics were washed twice with saturated sodium bicarbonate solution, twice with water, collected, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. HPLC purification was performed using a YMC 30×100 mm 5u (C18) column in 0-100% acetonitrile (3.0% n-propanol)/100-0% water (3.0% n-propanol) at 30 mL/min. The desired fractions were collected and concentrated. The afforded residue was extracted with ethyl acetate/water. Organic layers were washed with saturated NaCl solution, collected and dried in vacuo to afford N-(2,3-dihydroxy-propoxy)-3,4-difluoro-2-(2-fluoro-phenylamino)-benzamide as a white solid (0.061 g, 31%): m.p.=113-115° C.; 1NMR(400MHz; DMSO-d6) δ 11.90(s, 1H), 8.73 (s, 1H), 7.37 (m, 1H), 7.10-7.19 (m, 2H), 7.02 (t, 1H, J=7.4 Hz), 6.84-6.93 (m, 2H), 4.82 (m, 1H), 4.57-4.58 (m, 1H), 3.86-3.88 (m, 1H), 3.67-3.73 (m, 2H), 3.3 (2H, under HDO); MS(APCI+)=357.1; Anal.calcd/found for C16H15F3N2O4: C, 53.94/53.97; H, 4.24/4.37; N, 7.86/7.83.
