Methyl 3-bromonaphthalene-1-carboxylate → (3-Bromonaphthalen-1-yl)methanol

To a solution of 5.10 g (19.2 mmol) of the above methyl 3-bromo-1-naphthoate in 20 mL of anhydrous tetrahydrofuran at −78° C. under an atmosphere of nitrogen was added 48 mL (48 mmol) of a 1.0 M solution of diisobutylaluminum hydride in toluene. The resulting solution was allowed to gradually warm to 0° C. over 90 min and quenched with a saturated aqueous solution of potassium sodium tartrate (25 mL). The resulting suspension was vigorously stirred with gradual warming to ambient temperature over 2 h and the layers separated. The aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate (3×20 mL) and the combined organic layers were washed with brine (30 mL), dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo to afford the title compound as a white solid which was used without further purification LC/MS 237.0 (M+1) and 239.0 (M+3).