The hydrochloride salt of 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-thieno[3,2-c]pyridine (3.2 g, 18.9 mmol) was dissolved in water (120 mL) and 50% sodium hydroxide solution (10 mL) was added. The corresponding free base was extracted with dichloromethane (2×25 mL), which was dried over sodium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated. The remaining oil (2.58 g, 18.9 mmol) was dissolved in DMF (10 mL) under an argon atmosphere. Potassium carbonate (5 g) and 7-bromo-7-(2-chlorophenyl)-2,2-dimethylheptanoic acid ethyl ester (7.0 g, 18.63 mmol) were added and the mixture stirred for 44 hours at 75° C. The flask was cooled to room temperature and water (50 mL) was added. The product was extracted with dichloromethane (2×75 mL), which was dried over sodium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated. The remaining brown oil (8.94 g) was purified by column chromatography on silica gel (140 g), eluting with heptane-ethyl acetate (4:1 to 2:1). The product containing fractions were combined, concentrated, and dried to a constant weight under high vacuum at room temperature to provide 7-(2-chlorophenyl)-7-(6,7-dihydro-4H-thieno[3,2-c]pyridin-5-yl)-2,2-dimethylheptanoic acid ethyl ester (Compound Ih, 3.85 g, 49% yield) as a clear oil. 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3/TMS): δ=7.53 (dd, 1H, J=7.5, 1.2 Hz), 7.40 (dd, 1H, J=7.8, 1.2 Hz), 7.31-7.18 (m, 2H), 7.08 (d, 1H, 15.1 Hz), 6.74 (d, 1H, J=5.1 Hz), 4.22 (dd, 1H, J=8.7, 4.5 Hz), 4.12 (q, 2H, J=7.2 Hz), 3.83 (d, 1H, J=14.1 Hz), 3.49 (d, 1H, J=14.1 Hz), 2.92-2.68 (m, 4H), 2.08-1.73 (m, 2H), 1.46 (m, 2H), 1.30-1.19 (m, 7H), 1.15 (s, 6H). 13C NMR (75 MHz, CDCl3/TMS): S=178.00, 139.41, 134.99, 134.26, 133.62, 129.53, 128.13, 128.03, 126.87, 125.51, 122.67, 63.69, 60.37, 50.79, 48.15, 42.33, 40.84, 33.11, 26.19, 25.40, 14.55. HRMS (DIP-CI): Calculated for (M+H+): 434.1921. found 434.1871.
