A solution of 4-bromo-3,5-difluoroanisole (645 mg, 2.89 mmol) and 2-chloro-4-(2-methoxy-2-oxoethyl)phenylboronic acid (Intermediate 2-6; 859 mg, 3.76 mmol) and sodium carbonate (2.89 mL, 5.78 mmol), tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) (207 mg, 0.18 mmol) in DME (20 mL) was degassed and then stirred at 85° C. for 17 hours. The reaction mixture was allowed to cool, evaporated and partitioned between EtOAc (75 mL), water (40 mL) and saturated brine (15 mL), The aqueous phase was acidified with 2M HCl and extracted into EtOAc (2×125 mL). The organic layer was dried over MgSO4, filtered and evaporated to afford 2-(2-chloro-2′,6′-difluoro-4′-methoxybiphenyl-4-yl)acetic acid (654 mg, 72.4%) as a white solid, which was used without further purification.
