To a solution of N-{3-[(6-aminopyridin-3-yl)oxy]phenyl}-3-(trifluoromethyl)benzamide (2.00 g, 5.36 mmol) in pyridine (60 mL) was added under ice-cooling 4-methylbenzenesulfonyl chloride (1.12 g, 5.89 mmol), and the mixture was stirred with heating at 80° C. for 2 days. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, water (200 mL) was added thereto and the mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate (300 mL). The organic layer was washed with saturated brine (300 mL), and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The insoluble material was removed by filtration, and the filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to give the title compound (2.75 g, 99%) as a yellow oil. The obtained compound was used in the next reaction without further purification.
