To a chilled mixture of 1-chloromethanesulfonyl-naphthalene (19.7 g, 81.8 mmol) and 1-fluoro-4-nitrobenzene (8.7 mL, 82 mmol) in dry THF (197 mL) was dropwise added 1.0M potassium t-butoxide in THF (205 mL, 205 mmol). The reaction mixture was stirred at ambient temperature under nitrogen for 1.5 hours. Glacial acetic acid (16 mL, 280 mmol) was then added. After stirring at ambient temperature for 1 hour, 40 minutes, the reaction mixture was concentrated and partitioned in warm ethyl acetate and brine. The organic phase was dried with anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated. The solid residue was stirred in ether, filtered and dried at 82° C. in vacuo for 1 hour. This yielded 1-(5-fluoro-2-nitro-phenylmethanesulfonyl)-naphthalene as a brown/rust-colored solid (19.9 g, 70.6%): MP: 155-160° C.; Mass Spectrum (−EI, [M−H]−) m/z 344. 1HNMR (300 MHz, DMSO-d6): δ8.50-8.52 (m, 1H), 8.33 (d, 1H, J=8.30 Hz), 8.06-8.14 (m, 2H), 7.97 (dd, 1H, J=7.32 Hz and 1.22 Hz), 7.62-7.74 (m, 3H), 7.44-7.48 (m, 1H), 7.23-7.26 (m, 1H), 5.23 ppm (s, 2H). Elemental Analysis for C17H12FNO4S: Calcd: C, 59.12; H, 3.50; N, 4.06; Found: C, 58.77; H, 3.30; N, 3.92.
