To a solution of 2,4,6-trimethylaniline (0.089 mL, 0.64 mmol) in THF (2 mL), NaHMDS (1.0 M in THF, 0.64 mL, 0.64 mmol) was added dropwise at 0° C. The mixture was stirred under N2 at 0° C. for 10 min, and then 4-chloro-5-(4-methoxy-benzenesulfonyl)-2-methyl-pyrimidine (158 mg, 0.53 mmol) in THF (3 mL) was added dropwise at 0° C. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 h, and then quenched with saturated ammonium chloride. The organic layer was separated and the aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate (2×). The combined organic layers were washed with brine, dried over Na2SO4, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by chromatography on silica gel (1:2 ethyl acetate/hexanes) to provide the target compound (95 mg, 45%) as a light yellow solid: mp 153–155° C.; 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3) δ 8.74 (s 1H), 8.22 (br s, 1H), 7.88 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 2H), 6.98 (d, J=7.0 Hz, 1H), 6.91 (s, 2H), 3.86 (s, 3H), 2.38 (s, 3H), 2.30 (s, 3H), 2.01 (s, 6H); ESI MS m/z 398 [(M+H)+, calcd for C21H24N3O3S, 398.2].
