To a solution of diisopropyl amine (2.48 mL, 17.5 mmol) in THF (60 mL) at −78° C. was added dropwise n-BuLi (1.6 M in hexane, 11.5 mL, 18.3 mmol) and the reaction mixture was stirred for 5 min. A solution of (2,2-bis(3-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl)acetonitrile (5.51 g, 15.3 mmol), prepared as described in Procedure 14, in THF (5 mL) was added dropwise to the reaction mixture and stirred for 1h. Benzyl bromide (2.17 mL, 18.3 mmol) was added dropwise, then the cooling bath was removed and the reaction mixture was stirred at rt for 45 min. The reaction mixture was poured into H2O (75 mL) and extracted with diethyl ether (2×75 mL). The combined organic portions were dried over Na2SO4, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure to yield a residue. The residue was purified on a silica gel ISCO cartridge with elution at 5 to 15% Et2O/hexane to give 3-phenyl-2,2-bis(3-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl)propanenitrile (6.75 g, 98% yield) as a clear yellow oil. LCMS: RT=2.18 min [M-CN] 425.1 (2 min Phenomenex Luna C18 column, 4.6×30 mm eluting with 10-90% MeOH/H2O over 2 minutes containing 0.1% TFA; 5 mL/min, monitoring at 220 nm); NMR: 400 MHz 1H(CDCl3) ppm 3.63 (s, 2 H), 6.87 (d, J=7.03 Hz, 2 H), 7.15-7.26 (m, 9 H), 7.40 (t, J=8.13 Hz, 2 H).
