285 mg (0.95 mmol) (4-Chloro-3-fluoro-2-methoxyphenyl)[2-(trifluoromethyl)-oxiranyl]methanone obtained in example 12 are stirred with 622 mg (1.9 mmol) Caesium carbonate in 8 ml ethanol. The reaction is quenched by addition of water after 1 day. The aqueous layer is extracted with ethyl acetate, the combined organic phases are washed with brine, dried over sodium sulphate and then evaporated to yield 173 mg 1-(4-Chloro-3-fluoro-2-methoxyphenyl)-3,3,3-trifluoro-2-ethoxymethyl-2-hydroxy propan-1-one. 1H-NMR (CDCl3); δ=1.20 (t, 3H), 3.60 (dq, 1H), 3.62 (dq, 1H), 3.79 (d, 1H), 3.97 (d, 3H), 4.09 (d, 1H), 4.72 (s, 1H), 7.11 (dd, 1H), 7.18 (dd, 1H). To 26 mg (0.15 mmol) 5-Amino-7-fluoro-1H-quinolin-2-one and 50 mg (0.15 mmol) 1-(4-Chloro-3-fluoro-2-methoxyphenyl)-3,3,3-trifluoro-2-ethoxymethyl-2-hydroxypropan-1-one in 0.44 ml toluene and 0.13 ml 1,4-dioxane are added 30 μl acetic acid and 0.11 ml tetrabutyl orthotitanate. The mixture is heated over 20 hours to 110° C., cooled to room temperature and poured into aqueous ammonium fluoride solution. Ethyl acetate is added and the mixture is stirred vigorously for 30 minutes. Phases are separated and two times extracted with ethylacetate. The combined organic phases are concentrated to yield quantitatively 5-{[1-(4-Chloro-3-fluoro-2-methoxyphenyl)-3,3,3-trifluoro-2-ethoxymethyl-2-hydroxypropylidene]amino}-7-fluoro-1H-quinolin-2-one. The raw imine in 4.7 ml methanol is cooled to 5° C. and 180 mg sodium boron hydride are added in multiple portions over the period of 72 hours. The reaction is quenched by addition of saturated ammonium chloride solution and diluted with water and ethyl acetate. The phases are separated, the aqueous layer is extracted with ethyl acetate, the combined organic phases are washed with brine and dried over sodium sulphate. After removal of the solvent preparative thin layer chromatography on silica gel (acetone in methylene chloride 30%) yields 3.2 mg of the title compound.
