To a stirred solution of N-(4-chloro-5-formylpyridin-2-yl)acetamide (3 g, 15.11 mmol), (4-chloro-2-fluorophenyl)boronic acid (2.63 g, 15.11 mmol), cesium carbonate (9.84 g, 30.2 mmol) in a mixture of water (8 mL) and THF (25 mL) was added Pd(PPh3)4 (19.19 mg, 0.017 mmol) and the reaction was heated to 85° C. for 12 h. The reaction mixture was diluted with water and extracted with ethyl acetate (2×25 mL). The combined organic layers were washed with water, brine, dried over sodium sulphate, and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by silica gel chromatography using hexane/ethyl acetate as eluant yielding N-(4-(4-chloro-2-fluorophenyl)-5-formylpyridin-2-yl)acetamide (2.8 g, 9.01 mmol, 60% yield) as an off-white solid. LCMS (ESI) m/e 291.0 [(M)−, calcd for C14H9ClFN2O2 291.0] LC/MS retention time (method A): tR=1.69 min; 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 11.14 (s, 1H), 9.84 (d, J=Hz, 1H), 8.88 (s, 1H), 8.13 (s, 1H), 7.61 (dd, J=2.00, 10.00 Hz, 1H), 7.46-7.48 (m, 2H), 2.11 (s, 3H).
