Sodium (148 mg, 6.4 mmol) was added to 2-methoxyethanol (10 ml), the mixture stirred for 15 minutes to give a complete solution and the volatiles removed by evaporation. The residue was dissolved in DMSO (5 ml) and 7-chloro-4-(4-chloro-2-fluoroanilino)-6-nitroquinazoline hydrochloride (500 mg, 1.3 mmol) was added. The mixture was stirred at ambient temperature for 18 hours then diluted with a solution of acetic acid (1 ml) in water (20 ml). The resulting precipitate was collected by filtration, washed with water, dried and purified by column chromatography eluting with methylene chloride/methanol (96/4). The purified product was recrystallised from methylene chloride/isohexane to give 4-(4-chloro-2-fluoroanilino)-7-(2-methoxyethoxy)-6-nitroquinazoline (304 mg, 60%) as a yellow solid.
