3-(2-fluoro-6-methoxyphenoxy)-nitrotoluene (0.28 g, 1.0 mmol) was heated with N-bromosuccinimide (200 mg, 1.1 mmol) and dibenzoyl peroxide (10 mg) in CCl4 (10 mL) at 90° C. for 3 hr. The reaction mixture was cooled, filtered and the filtrate was concentrated. To the residue was added N-methylpiperizine (110 mg, 1.1 mmol) in THF (5 mL) and the mixture was heated at 60° C. for 4 hr. The volatiles were removed under reduced pressure. The residue was dissolved in ethyl acetate and washed (brine), dried (Na2SO4) and concentrated. The resulting nitrobenzene was reduced to 2-(2-fluoro-6-methoxy-phenoxy)-4-(4-methyl-piperazin-1-ylmethyl)-aniline (224 mg, 65%) following the general procedure C. 1-[2-(2-Fluoro-6-methoxy-phenoxy)-4-(4-methyl-piperazin-1-ylmethyl)-phenyl]-3-thiazol-2-yl-urea (130 mg, 55%) was prepared from 2-(2-fluoro-6-methoxy-phenoxy)-4-(4-methyl-piperazin-1-ylmethyl)-aniline (172 mg, 0.5 mmol) and 2-aminothiazole (60 mg, 0.6 mmol) following the general procedure D.
