A mixture of 2-(4-fluorophenethyl)-5-[1-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(1-methylimidazol-5-yl)ethoxy]benzoate (1.5 g.), sodium hydroxide (0.62 g.), methanol (200 ml.) and water (30 ml.) was stirred at reflux for 16 hours. The mixture was then cooled, the methanol evaporated away and the residue diluted with water (100 ml.). It was then washed with dichloromethane and the aqueous phase separated, acidified with 1M aqueous citric acid (25 ml.) and extracted with dichloromethane. The extracts were dried and evaporated to dryness to give 2-(4-fluorophenethyl)-5-[1-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(1-methylimidazol-5-yl)ethoxy]benzoic acid as a white foam (1.1 g).
