To Trifluoro-methanesulfonic acid 4-tert-butyl-2-nitro-phenyl ester (3.715 g, 11.35 mmol), dichlorobis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(II) (336 mg, 0.478 mmol), cuprous iodide (168 mg, 0.882 mmol) was added dimethylformamide (45 mL), triethylamine (1.72 g, 17.0 mmol), and trimethylsilylacetylene (2.229 g, 22.70 mmol). The resulting mixture was heated at 90° C. under an atmosphere of nitrogen for 15 minutes. This was partitioned between ethylacetate and water. The ethylacetate layer was washed with brine, dried over anhydrous MgSO4, concentrated in vacuo, and purified by flash chromatography with elution with CH2Cl2 to yield (4-tert-Butyl-2-nitro-phenylethynyl)-trimethyl-silane (3.193 g, 11.61 mmol).
