LiAlH4 (14 mL of 1 M solution in THF, 14 mmol) is added to a solution of 6-chloro-4-isopropoxy-2-methyl-nicotinic acid isopropyl ester (2.0 g, 7.4 mmol) in THF (10 mL) at 0° C. The mixture is stirred for 3 hours at ambient temperature. After quenching with water, the mixture is extracted with EtOAc. The combined extracts are washed with saturated brine, dried (Na2SO4), and concentrated to give the crude alcohol as a colorless oil which is dissolved in CH2Cl2 (10 mL) and treated with SOCl2 (2.7 mL, 37 mmol). The mixture is stirred for 1 hour at room temperature and concentrated in vacuo. The residue is dissolved in DMF (15 mL). To this is added Cs2CO3 (7.2 g, 11 mmol) and carvacrol (1.6 g, 11 mmol). The mixture is stirred for 16 hours at room temperature, poured into water, and extracted with Et2O. The combined extracts are washed with saturated brine, dried (Na2SO4), and concentrated in vacuo. The residue is purified by flash chromatography (elution with Hex/EtOAc 6:1) to yield 6-chloro-4-isopropoxy-3-(5-isopropyl-2-methyl-phenoxymethyl)-2-methyl-pyridine. 1H NMR (CDCl3) 7.05 (d, 1H), 6.82 (s, 1H), 6.79 (d, 1H), 6.724 (s, 1H), 5.02 (s, 2H), 4.60 (m, 1H), 2.88 (m, 1H), 2.59 (s, 3H), 2.12 (s, 3H), 1.37 (d, 6H), 1.24 (d, 6H).
