2,4-Difluoro-1-nitrobenzene 15 (159 mg, 1.0 mmol) in THF (2 mL) was added to a solution of TMPZnCl.LiCl (2) (1.3 M in THF, 0.85 mL, 1.1 mmol) at 25° C. and the reaction mixture was then stirred at this temperature for 45 min according to TP 2. Pd(dba)2 (17 mg, 3 mol %) and P(o-furyl)3 (14 mg, 6 mol %) dissolved in THF (2 mL), followed by the addition of ethyl 4-iodobenzoate (359 g, 1.3 mmol), were then transferred via cannula at -20° C. The resulting mixture was allowed to warm up slowly to 25° C. overnight. The reaction mixture was then quenchend with a sat. aq. NH4Cl solution (20 mL), extracted with diethyl ether (3×50 mL) and dried over anhydrous Na2SO4. After filtration, the solvent was evaporated in vacuo. Purification by flash-chromatography (CH2Cl2/n-pentane, 1:2) furnished compound 17a (281 mg, 92%) as a colourless solid.
