To a solution of 6-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-3,4-dihydroquinolin-2(1H)-one, prepared as described above (90 mg, 0.31 mmol) in anhydrous tetrahydrofuran (3 mL) was added at room temperature 20-40 mesh beads of sodium hydroxide (48 mg, 1.20 mmol) and ethyl acrylate (1.200 g, 1.20 mmol) in anhydrous N,N-dimethylformamide (1 mL). The reaction mixture was stirred for 4 hours under an atmosphere of dry N2, followed by addition of a second portion of sodium hydroxide (96 mg, 2.40 mmol). The reaction was followed by LCMS and stirring was continued until all of the starting material had disappeared. Solvent was removed from the reaction mixture under reduced pressure, diluted with ethyl acetate (20 mL), and aqueous Na2SO3 (10 mL) added. The aqueous phase was extracted with ethyl acetate (3×20 mL), and the combined organic phase successively washed with 2N sodium carbonate (20 mL), 30% ammonium chloride (20 mL), brine (20 mL), and dried over magnesium sulfate. Evaporation of the solvent gave a crude mixture that was purified by reverse phase HPLC with a gradient of acetonitrile/water (2% to 98%) to afford ethyl 3-(2-oxo-6-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-3,4-dihydroquinolin-1(2H)-yl)propanoate (65 mg, 0.18 mmol, 58%). LCMS mz 364.0 (M+H), 386.0 (M+Na), anal HPLC >99% in purity. 1H NMR (400 MHz; CD3CN) δ7.87 (d, J=8.2 Hz, 2H); 7.81 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 2H); 7.66 (d, J=2.3 Hz, 1H); 7.63 (m, 1H); 7.26 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 1H); 4.25 (m, 2H); 3.02 (m, 2H); 2.67 (m, 4H).
