Tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) (208 mg, 0.180 mmol) was added to a solution of 3-ethoxycarbonylphenyl boronic acid (350 mg, 1.80 mmol), 2 -bromopyridine (189 μL, 1.99 mmol) and potassium carbonate (499 mg, 3.61 mmol) in EtOH:toluene (4.00 mL of an 80:20 mixture, respectively) at rt. The resulting solution was heated to 100° C. in a sealed microwave vial for a total of 15 min. After cooling to rt, the reaction mixture was filtered through a short column of Celite®, eluting with EtOAc. The filtrate was washed with water and brine, dried (sodium sulfate) and concentrated in vacuo. The crude residue was purified by flash chromatography on silica gel (isocratic elution; 10% EtOAc/hexanes as eluent) to afford the title compound i-2a. m/z (ES) 228 (MH)+.
