A mixture of 2-(4-iodophenyl)-N-(5-phenylpyridin-2-yl)acetamide 53-3 (41 mg, 0.1 mmol), imidazole (10 mg, 0.15 mmol), potassium phosphate (41 mg, 0.3 mmol), CuI (2 mg, 0.01 mmol) and L-proline (2.3 mg, 0.02 mmol) in DMSO (0.5 mL) was stirred under an atmosphere of dry Argon at 100° C. for 10 hours. The crude product was purified by reverse phase HPLC to give 2-(4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)phenyl)-N-(5-phenylpyridin-2-yl)acetamide 53 as white solid. MS m/z 355.1 (M+1); 1H NMR 400 MHz (CDCl3) δ 8.47-8.46 (m, 1H), 8.29 (d, 1H, J=8.8 Hz), 7.99 (s, 1H), 7.92 (dd, 1H, J1=16.8 Hz, J2=2.4 Hz), 7.88 (s, 1H), 7.55-7.53 (m, 2H), 7.49-7.38 (m, 6H), 7.29 (s, 1H), 7.23 (s, 1H), 3.83 (s, 2H).
