To a stirred solution of N-biphenyl-4-yl-malonamic acid (0.1 g, 0.00039 mole) in DMF (2 mL) was added HOBt (0.065 g, 0.00047 mole) and DIPEA (0.126 g, 0.00098 mole). The mixture was cooled to 10° C. and EDCI.HCl (0.090 g, 0.00047 mole) followed by 4-(2-chloro-5-fluoro-phenoxy)-piperidine hydrochloride (0.114 g, 0.00043 mole) were added. The resulting mixture was stirred at the ambient temperature overnight. The mixture was then diluted with cold water and the resulting precipitate was isolated by filtration. Purification by column chromatography using silica gel 60-120 mesh (35% ethyl acetate in hexane) afforded 0.024 g (13%) of N-biphenyl-4-yl-3-[4-(2-chloro-5-fluoro-phenoxy)-piperidin-1-yl]-3-oxo-propionamide. LCMS: 467 (M+1)+, 97.5%, 1H NMR (CDCl3): δ 10.0 (s, 1H), 7.66 (d, 2H), 7.58 (m, 4H), 7.42 (t, 2H), 7.34 (m, 2H), 6.68 (m, 2H), 4.64 (m, 1H), 4.3 (m, 1H), 3.7 (m, 3H), 3.52 (s, 2H), 1.96 (m, 4H).
