A mixture of 6-chloro-5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxylic acid (547 mg, 1.81 mmol) in thionyl chloride (10 mL) was heated to 60° C. for 4 hours, cooled to room temperature and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was dissolved in CH2Cl2 (20 mL) and treated with p-cresol (399 mg, 3.61 mmol) followed by triethylamine (369 mg, 3.61 mmol). The reaction mixture was stirred for 16 hours and quenched with water (20 mL). The layers were separated and the organic phase was concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by flash chromatography (25-50% EtOAc/heptane) to give the title compound (192 mg, 27% yield).
