Cesium fluoride (0.829 g, 5.46 mmol) and cesium carbonate (0.456 g, 1.4 mmol) were added to a stirred solution of (4-triisopropylsilanylsulfanyl-phenyl)-methanol (0.808 g, 2.73 mmol) and trans-2-bromomethyl-cyclohexanecarboxylic acid cyanomethyl amide (0.906 g, 3.50 mmol) in dry dimethylformamide (910 mL). The reaction mixture was stirred at 50° C. overnight. The reaction mixture was diluted with dichloromethane and washed with 1N HCl, then with saturated aqueous sodium bicarbonate. The organic layer was dried with magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated by rotary evaporation to yield trans-N-cyanomethyl-2-(4-hydroxymethyl-phenylsulfanylmethyl)-cyclohexanecarboxamide as a white solid that was carried forward without further purification.
