Under argon, 1.66 ml of 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexamethyldisilazane are dissolved in 20 ml of tetrahydrofuran. With ice cooling, 2.90 ml of n-butyllithium (2.5 M in n-hexane) are added dropwise, and the mixture is stirred at 0° C. for another 30 minutes. At −78° C., this solution is then added dropwise to a stirred solution of 2.0 g of ethyl (10-methyl-5,5-dioxo-5,10-dihydrophenothiazin-2-yl)acetate in 100 ml of tetrahydrofuran. The reaction mixture is stirred at −78° C. for 20 minutes, and 2.0 g of 4-(iodomethyl)tetrahydro-2H-pyran are then added dropwise. The cooling bath is removed and the mixture is allowed to slowly warm to room temperature. The reaction mixture is stirred at room temperature overnight. 10 ml of water are then added, the tetrahydrofuran is removed under reduced pressure and the residue is extracted three times with in each case 100 ml of ethyl acetate. The combined organic phases are dried over MgSO4 and then concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue is purified on silica gel using the mobile phase n-heptane:ethyl acetate (100%:0%)=>n-heptane:ethyl acetate (0%:100%). This gives 2.0 g of ethyl 2-(10-methyl-5,5-dioxo-5,10-dihydrophenothiazin-2-yl)-3-(tetrahydropyran-4-yl)propionate as a colorless solid.
