Methyl 5-[{4-[(4-butylphenyl)ethynyl]benzyl}(3,3-dimethylbutyl)amino]-2-fluorobenzoate (541 mg; 1.08 mmol) was dissolved in 10 mL of EtOH and sodium hydroxide (649.63 μl; 5.00 M, 3.25 mmol) was added. The reaction mixture was stirred at 65° C. for 2h30. The reaction mixture was allowed to cool down and EtOAc (50 mL) was added. The organic layer was washed three times with HCl (1M), dried over MgSO4, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure to afford 450 mg (86%) of the title compound as a yellow solid. HPLC, Rt: 5.97 min (purity: 98.9%); LC/MS M+(ESI): 486.2, M−(ESI)=484.0; 1H NMR (CDCl3) δ: 7.44 (m, 4H), 7.32 (m, 1H), 7.20 (d, J=9.8 Hz, 2H,), 7.14 (d, J=8.3 Hz, 2H), 6.97 (m, 1H), 6.91-6.75 (m, 1H), 4.48 (s, 2H), 3.42 (m, 2H), 2.60 (t, J=7.7 Hz, 2H), 1.65-1.46 (m, 4H), 1.40-1.28 (m, 2H), 0.99-0.87 (m, 12H).
