2-[5-(4-Bromo-phenyl)-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid benzyl ester (2.14 g, 5.01 mmol), (3-tert-Butoxycarbonylaminophenyl)-boronic acid (1.19 g, 5.01 mmol), Pd(PPh3)4 (289 mg, 0.251 mmol) and K2CO3 (5.5 mL of 2 M aqueous solution, 11.02 mmol) were combined with 1,2-dimethoxyethane (20 mL). The suspension was stirred while N2 was bubbled through the solution for 24 min. A reflux condenser was attached and the suspension was heated to 85° C. for 17 hours. It was then cooled, diluted with ethyl acetate (150 mL), washed with water and brine, dried over sodium sulfate and concentrated. The crude product was purified by silica column chromatography (25% to 50% EtOAc/hexanes) to provide 2-[5-(3′-tert-Butoxycarbonylamino-biphenyl-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid benzyl ester (1.73 g, 64%). Pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid [4′-(2-pyrrolidin-2-yl-3H-intidazol-4-yl)-biphenyl-3-yl]-amide: 2-[5-(3′-tert-Butoxycarbonylamino-biphenyl-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-pyrrolidine-1-carboxylic acid benzyl ester (1.75 g, 3.25 mmol) was dissolved in methanol (40 mL) and concentrated HCl (2 mL) was added. The solution was stirred at 50° C. for 19 hours before being concentrated to a volume of 10 mL, poured into saturated NaHCO3 (60 mL). The organic phase was extracted 3 times with 30 mL dichloromethane. The combined organic phases were dried with sodium sulfate and concentrated. A portion of the resulting residue (515 mg, 1.17 mmol) was dissolved in THF (2 mL). In a separate flask, ethylchloroformate (0.134 mL, 1.41 mmol) was added dropwise to a stirred 0° C. solution of Boc-Pro-OH (303 mg, 1.41 mmol) and triethylamine (0.197 mL, 1.41 mmol) in THF (4 mL). After 10 minutes, the solution of biphenyl compound was added by cannula followed by a 2 mL rinse with THF. Following addition, the mixture was warmed to RT. After 70 min, the mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate (60 mL) and washed with water and brine. The organic phase was dried over sodium sulfate and concentrated. The residue was purified by silica column chromatography (25% to 50% EtOAc/hexanes) to provide the Boc-Pro compound (470 mg, 63%). This material was dissolved in ethanol (40 mL) and 10% Pd/C (300 mg) was added before the flask was sealed and a bladder containing hydrogen gas was attached. A venting needle was placed in the septum for 30 s to allow hydrogen to bubble through the solution. After 13 h, the mixture was filtered over CELITE and concentrated. A portion of this residue (177 mg, 0.353 mmol) was dissolved in methanol (20 mL) and concentrated HCl (2 mL) was added. The mixture was stirred at 60° C. before being concentrated to provide Pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid [4′-(2-pyrrolidin-2-yl-3H-imidazol-4-yl)-biphenyl-3-yl]-amide (142 mg, 100%). (1-{2-[5-(3′-{[1-(2-Methoxycarbonylamino-3-methyl-butyryl)-pyrrolidine-2-carbonyl]-amino}-biphenyl-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-pyrrolidine-1-carbonyl}-2-methyl-propyl)-carbamic acid methyl ester: Pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid [4′-(2-pyrrolidin-2-yl-3H-imidazol-4-yl)-biphenyl-3-yl]-amide (142 mg, 0.353 mmol), 2-Methoxycarbonylamino-3-methyl-butyric acid (124 mg, 0.706 mmol) and HATU (295 mg, 0.777 mmol) were suspended in DMF (7 mL) and cooled to 0° C. before DIPEA (0.615 mL, 3.53 mmol) was added. After 80 min, the mixture was warmed to RT then filtered and purified by reverse phase preparative HPLC, giving (1-{2-[5-(3′-{[1-(2-Methoxycarbonylamino-3-methyl-butyryl)-pyrrolidine-2-carbonyl]-amino}-biphenyl-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-pyrrolidine-1-carbonyl}-2-methyl-propyl)-carbamic acid methyl ester (50 mg, 20%): 1H NMR (DMSO-d6, 400 MHz) 10.11 (s, 1H), 7.92 (s, 1H), 7.83 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 2H), 7.80-7.56 (m, 3H), 7.41-7.29 (m, 4H), 5.90 (m, 1H), 4.47 (m, 1H), 4.05 (m, 2H), 3.82 (m, 3H), 3.64 (m, 2H), 3.54 (m, 6H), 2.18 (m, 2H), 2.02-1.92 (m, 6H), 0.96-0.82 (m, 12H); MS (ESI) m/z 716 [M+H]+.
