Under argon and dry conditions, 13.3 g (42.73 mmol) of tert-butyl 1-(3-bromobenzyl)-cyclopropanecarboxylate, 5.6 ml (51.28 mmol) of benzylamine, 1.96 g (2.14 mmol) of tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium, 4.93 g (51.28 mmol) of sodium tert-butoxide and 1.06 g (1.71 mmol) of (+/−)-2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1′-binaphthyl were suspended in 50 ml of toluene. The reaction mixture was then stirred at 110° C. for 1.5 h. The mixture was then filtered off with suction through kieselguhr, the residue was washed with toluene and the filtrate was concentrated. The filtrate residue was taken up in ethyl acetate and washed twice with aqueous ammonium chloride solution. The organic phase was dried over magnesium sulphate and concentrated under reduced pressure. The crude product was purified by chromatography on silica gel (mobile phase cyclohexane/ethyl acetate 20:1). This gave 6.98 g (48.4% of theory) of the title compound.
