3.00 g of potassium t-butoxide were added, whilst ice-cooling, to a solution of 6 g of ethyl 4-(1-hydroxy-1-methylethyl)-2-propylimidazole-5-carboxylate (prepared as described in Preparation 9) in 40 ml of N,N-dimethylacetamide, and the resulting mixture was stirred for 10 minutes, after which a solution of 9.00 g of t-butyl 4'-bromomethylbiphenyl -2-carboxylate in 40 ml of N,N-dimethylacetamide was added. After the reaction mixture had been stirred at room temperature for 1 hour and then at 50° C. for 2 hours, it was mixed with water and extracted with ethyl acetate. The extract was dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, and the solvent was removed by distillation under reduced pressure, after which the residue was purified by column chromatography through silica gel, using a 1:1 by volume mixture of hexane and ethyl acetate as the eluent, to give 11.6 g of the title compound as a solid, softening at above 85° C.
