To a stirred suspension of 507 mg (1.843mmol) of 7-4 in 10 ml of toluene was added 578 mg (3.68 mmol) of 7-6 via pipet. The reaction mixture was heated to 110° C. overnight. The solution was allowed to cool to room temperature and ethyl acetate was added. The diluted reaction mixture was washed with 10% hydrochloric acid. Three ethyl acetate extractions were performed on the aqueous layer. The organic layers were combined, dried (sodium sulfate), and concentrated in vacuo to give 745 mg of an off white solid. The solid was purified using a 40 mm column, 6 inches of silica gel and a 1:1 ethyl acetate/hexane solvent system to give 7-7 as a colorless solid: H1NMR CDCl3): δ 1.25 (t, 3H, 6.2 Hz), 2.1 (s, 3H), 4.0-4.1 (m, 2H), 4.25 (q, 2H, 7.1 Hz), 4.72 (s, 2H), 6.15 (s 1H), 6.68 (s, 1H) 7.4-7.6 (m, 3H), 7.6-7.8 (m, 2H).
