6-bromo-2-(heptyloxy)quinoline (2.014 g, 6.27 mmol) and Pd2(dba)3 (172 mg, 0.188 mmol, 0.03 eq.) were dissolved in DME (5 mL) and stirred under nitrogen atmosphere for 10 min. 2-di-tert-butylphosphino-2′-methylbiphenyl (117 mg, 0.36 mmol, 0.06 eq.) was added and the mixture was stirred at r.t. for 10 min. Then nitroethane (0.9 mL, 12.54 mmol, 2.0 eq.) and cesium carbonate (2.5 g, 7.5 mmol, 1.2 eq.) were added. The mixture was stirred at 50° C. under nitrogen atmosphere for 15 h. The mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate and the organic layer was purified by silica gel column chromatography using petroleum/ethyl acetate (5/1) as eluent to give product as a slight red oil (1.5 g, 78%). ESI-MS: 317.1 (M+H)+. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.98 (d, 1H), 7.86 (d, 1H), 7.79 (s, 1H), 7.69 (q, 1H), 6.93 (d, 1H), 5.77-5.74 is (m, 1H), 4.46 (t, 2H), 1.98 (d, 3H), 1.84-1.80 (m, 2H), 1.48-1.29 (m, 8H), 0.89 (t, 3H).
