Cesium carbonate → Methyl 4-((3-((phenylamino)methyl)phenoxy)methyl)benzoate

To a suspension of 3-((phenylamino)methyl)phenol (398 mg, 2 mmol) and cesium carbonate (651 mg, 2 mmol) in anhydrous DMF (8 mL) was added methyl-4-(bromomethyl)benzoate (481 mg, 2.1 mmol). The resulting mixture was stirred for 22 hours at room temperature, after which time the solvent was removed in vacuo. The residue was partitioned between dichloromethane (30 mL) and water (10 mL). The mixture was passed through a phase separator, washed with dichloromethane and solvent was removed in vacuo to afford a brown oil. The crude material was purified by silica gel chromatography eluting with 25% ethyl acetate in iso-hexane to afford the title compound as a yellow oil (133 mg, 19%).