To a suspension of 3-chloro-5-fluoro-4-((5-(2-(4-fluoro-3-methoxyphenyl)propan-2-yl)-1-(4-fluorophenyl)-1H-imidazol-2-ylthio)methyl)benzenesulfonic acid (250 mg, 0.43 mmol) in DCM (5 mL) was added thionyl chloride (1 mL) and DMF (10 uL, anhyd). The reaction mixture was heated 2 h at 50° C., concentrated, diluted with DCM, and concentrated to dryness. The sulfonyl chloride intermediate was diluted with DCM (3 mL) and added slowly to a well-stirred mixture of 3-(2-aminoethyl)-1-methylpyridinium chloride hydrochloride (100 mg, 0.58 mmol) and K2CO3(178 mg, 1.29 mmol) in CH3CN (10 mL). After stirring 2 h, the reaction mixture was filtered and concentrated. The residue was purified by chromatography (10-20% MeOH/DCM) to afford the title compound as a solid (18 mg, 6%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ 9.13 (s, 1H), 8.77 (s, 1H), 8.40-8.32 (m, 1H), 8.03 (s, 1H), 7.71 (s, 1H), 7.51 (d, J=8.29 Hz, 1H), 7.15 (s, 1H), 6.96-6.78 (m, 3H), 6.62-6.38 (m, 5H), 4.54 (s, 3H), 4.03 (s, 2H), 3.77 (s, 4H), 3.52-3.41 (m, 4H), 3.22-3.12 (m, 2H), 1.82-1.58 (m, 6H), 1.50 (s, 7H), 1.21 (t, J=7.02 Hz, 4H); MS (EI) m/z 701 [M]+.
