To 4-(2-benzyloxy-4-ethylphenoxy)-3-fluoroaniline (500 mg, 1.48 mmol) in 25 ml of ethanol was added 3-bromopropylphthalimide (440 mg, 1.64 mmol). The mixture was refluxed for 2 days. The reaction mixture was diluted with ethylacetate and washed with water, saturated brine solution, dried over anhydrous Na2SO4 and concentrated. The crude obtained was passed through a silica gel column using 15% ethylacetate in petroleum ether as eluant. The LCMS of the obtained mixture showed 53% mass of the coupled product. This was taken in 25 ml of ethanol and added 7 ml of hydrazine hydrate and refluxed overnight. Ethanol was removed in vacuo and added 20% KOH solution (20 ml) to the residue. The aqueous fraction was then extracted with dichlormethane and the combined dichloromethane fraction was dried over anhydrous Na2SO4 and concentrated. The crude product obtained was purified by column chromatography using 5% methanol in dichloromethane as eluant to obtain 110 mg (18.8% after 2 steps) of the N1-[4-(2-Benzyloxy-4-ethylphenoxy)-3-fluorophenyl]propan-1,3-diamine.
