Into a 50 mL roundbottom flask, was placed a solution of 1-(5-bromo-pyrazin-2-yl)-5-methoxy-2-trifluoromethyl-1H-benzoimidazole (iv) (50 mg, 0.13 mmol) in DMSO (5 mL) (1-(5-bromo-pyrazin-2-yl)-5-methoxy-2-trifluoromethyl-1H-benzoimidazole (iv) was prepared as described for Compound 1 above). To this was added 2-methyl-benzylamine (40 mg, 0.33 mmol) followed by CuI (10 mg, 0.05 mmol). To the mixture was added L-proline (20 mg, 0.17 mmol). The resulting solution was held at 50° C. for 1 hr while the reaction progress was monitored by TLC (EtOAc/PE=1:2). After completion, the reaction mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature, then washed twice with H2O (30 mL each). After removal of the volatile components under vacuum, the residue was purified by eluting through a silica gel column with a 1:10 EtOAc/PE solvent system. This resulted in 25 mg (44%) of the product [5-(5-Methoxy-2-trifluoromethyl-benzoimidazol-1-yl)-pyrazin-2-yl]-(2-methyl-benzyl)-amine as a white solid.
