Sodium carbonate (96 g, 909.79 mmol) was added to benzyl 4-(trifluoromethylsulfonyloxy)-5,6-dihydropyridine-1(2H)-carboxylate (123.1 g, 303.26 mmol) and 4-hydroxyphenylboronic acid (46.0 g, 333.59 mmol) in a mixture of dioxane (1000 mL) and water (250 mL). The resulting mixture was bubbled with nitrogen for 10 minutes then 1,1′-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocenedichloropalladium(II) (5.49 g, 7.58 mmol) was added and the reaction mixture was heated at 80° C. for 1 hour, then cooled to room temperature. The reaction mixture was diluted with DCM (2 L) and washed with water (2 L). The aqueous washing was re-extracted with DCM (1 L), then the combined organics were washed with saturated brine (500 mL), dried over MgSO4, filtered and evaporated to afford crude product. The crude product was purified by flash silica chromatography, elution gradient 10 to 30% EtOAc in isohexane. Fractions containing the desired product were evaporated to dryness then triturated with isohexane, filtered and dried to afford benzyl 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5,6-dihydropyridine-1(2H)-carboxylate (62.3 g, 66.4%) as a solid.
