A mixture of 2-(2-aminoethyl)-4-bromophenyl benzyl ether (3 g), tert-butyl 2-chloro-5-pyridinecarboxylate (2.1 g) (prepared from the acid by standard procedures), and potassium carbonate (1.4 g) in N-methylpyrrolidone (20 ml) was heated at 120° C. for 16 hours. To the reaction mixture was added diethyl ether (200 ml) and water (200 ml), the layers separated, the organic layer washed with water, dried (MgSO4), filtered and evaporated. The residue was purified by flash chromatography on silica gel eluting with dichloromethane/ethyl acetate mixtures (100:0, 95:5) to give tert-butyl 2-[N-(2-benzyloxy-5-bromophenethyl)amino]-5-pyridinecarboxylate (1.0 g).
