To a solution of 2-bromo-3-fluoronitrobenzene (1.500 g, 6.8 mmol), 2-fluorophenylboronic acid (1.145 g, 8.2 mmol), N,N-dimethylformamide (50 mL), and 2.0 M aqueous potassium carbonate (10 mL) under argon was added tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium (0) (0.394 g, 0.3 mmol). The mixture was stirred at 110° C. for 16 hrs. After cooling to room temperature, the mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate (100 mL) and washed with saturated aqueous sodium chloride, dried (anhydrous sodium sulfate), filtered, and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by silica gel chromatography (0-30% methylene chloride/hexanes) to afford a pale yellow solid (0.780 g, 49%). 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.86 (dt, 1H, J=7.8, 1.2 Hz), 7.56 (td, 1H, J=8.1, 5.7 Hz), 7.52-7.40 (m, 2H), 7.35-7.15 (m, 3H).
