t-Amyl alcohol (41 mL) was placed in a flask and argon was bubbled through it for several minutes. 2-Amino-5-[2,6-difluoro-4-(1-hydroxy-1-methylethyl)phenyl]thiophene-3-carboxamide (2.50 g, 8.0 mmol), dicyclohexyl(2′,4′,6′-triisopropylbiphenyl-2-yl)phosphine (1.90 g, 4 mmol), Pd2(dba)3 (0.73 g, 0.8 mmol), and potassium carbonate (1.22 g, 8.8 mmol) were placed in a reaction vessel that was purged with argon. Degassed t-amyl alcohol (10 mL) was used to transfer 1-[(6-bromopyridin-2-yl)methoxy]-2-methylpropan-2-ol (2.08 g, 8.0 mmol) to the reaction vessel and the remaining t-amyl alcohol was added. Seven argon/vacuum cycles were performed. The solution was heated at 105° C. overnight. The reaction was then cooled to ambient temperature, diluted with methanol, and silica gel was added. The resulting mixture was concentrated in vacuo and then purified by column chromatography (silica, 0-5% methanol/ethyl acetate). Purification via mass guided reverse phase HPLC (Agilent 1100 HPLC-MSD, Phenomenex Gemeni-C18, 10 μM, 250 mm×50 mm i.d. column, 20-95% acetonitrile/water+0.01% formic acid modifier, 75-100 mL/min flow rate) afforded the title compound.
