A mixture of 5-(4-fluorobenzoyl)-6-trifluoromethylsulfonyloxy-2-methylsulfonylnaphthalene (0.3 g, 0.63 mmol), [prepared as described in step 1 above], formic acid (0.096 ml, 2.5 mmol), triethylamine(0.36 ml, 2.5 mmol), palladium acetate (14 mg, 0.06 mmol), and 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane (0.10 g, 0.03 mmol) in DMF (10 ml) was stirred at room temperature. After 16 h, the reaction mixture was poured into brine and extracted into ethyl acetate. The organic layer was separated, dried over sodium sulfate, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude product was purified by flash chromatography (gradient elution 10-30% ethyl acetate/hexanes) and then recrystallized from ethyl acetate-hexanes to give 0.1 g of 5-(4-fluoro-benzoyl)-2-methylsulfonylnaphthalene as a solid (48% yield).
