Sodium hydride (60%, 2.0 g, 50 mmol) was added to a stirred solution of 4-[(cyclopropylmethyl)amino]-2-(trifluoromethyl)benzonitrile (6.0 g, 25 mmol), and tert-butyl bromoacetate (6.82 g, 35 mmol) in 20 mL of DMF at 0° C. over 20 minutes. The mixture was then stirred at 5-10° C. for 30 minutes. Diethyl ether (200 mL) was added to the mixture and the resulting slurry was extracted with water (3×50 mL). The organic phase was dried (MgSO4), filtered, and then concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was purified with silica gel chromatography (eluent:hexane-EtOAc; 3:1) to obtain 6.55 g (74%) of the title compound as a white solid: 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.59 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 1H), 6.92 (d, J=2.6 Hz, 1H), 6.77 (dd, J=8.8, 2.7 Hz, 1H), 4.10 (s, 2H), 3.33 (d, J=6.6 Hz, 2H), 1.43 (s, 9H), 1.05 (m, 1H), 0.62 (m, 2H), 0.26 (m, 2H).
