To 1-ethyl-4-(ethyloxy)-2-fluoro-5-nitrobenzene (0.19 g, 0.89 mmol), 4-[2-(methylsulfonyl)ethyl]piperidine (Example 101, Step D) (0.20 g, 1.1 mmol), and K2CO3 (0.43 g, 3.1 mmol) was added DMSO (12 mL). The reaction was heated to 100° C. for two days. Reaction was determined to be complete by TLC. The reaction mixture was diluted with H2O and extracted with DCM and EtOAc sequentially for two iterations. The organic was dried (MgSO4), filtered, and rotovapped down. Purification by flash chromatography provided the title compound of Step B (0.22 g, 0.57 mmol, 65% yield). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.80 (s, 1H), 6.57 (s, 1H), 4.13 (q, J=6.9 Hz, 2H), 3.20 (d, J=11.6 Hz, 2H), 3.00-3.13 (m, 2H), 2.92 (s, 3H), 2.67 (t, J=11.7 Hz, 2H), 2.57 (q, J=7.4 Hz, 2H), 1.77-1.97 (m, 4H), 1.36-1.68 (m, 6H), 1.24 (t, 3H).
