Ethyl 7-(2-m-tolyl-3-p-tolyl-7,8-dihydropyrido[2,3-b]pyrazin-5(6H)-yl)heptanoate (step 1)(69 mg, 0.146 mmol) in THF (1 ml) and water (0.5 ml) at RT was treated with LiOH monohydrate (18.42 mg, 0.439 mmol) and stirred at RT for 4 hours. MeOH (1 ml) and 2M NaOH (1 ml) were added and the mixture was stirred at RT overnight. The resulting mixture was added to water (20 ml) and the pH was adjusted to pH1 with 2M HCl. The aqueous portion was extracted with DCM (×3) and the organic extracts were passed through a phase separating column. The organic solvent was concentrated in vacuo. The crude product was purified by preparative LC-MS (low pH). The appropriate fraction was collected and extracted with DCM (×3), passing the organics through a phase separating column. The solvent was removed in vacuo to afford the title compound;
