A mixture of 3.44 g (20 mmol) of 4-bromoaniline and 3.80 g (20 mmol) of 2-(trifluoromethyl)phenylboronic acid, 1.16 g of tetrakis(triphenylphosphine) palladium(0) (1 mmol), 0.32 g of tetrabutylammonium bromide (1 mmol) and 20 mL of 2M aqueous sodium carbonate were refluxed with 180 mL of benzene under N2 for 14 hours. After cooling, the mixture was diluted with methylene chloride and water. The two phases were separated and the organic phase was washed with water, dried with MgSO4 and concentrated in vacuo. The resulting thick oil was chromatographed on silica with 10% EtOAc/hexane to afford 2.09 g (44%) of the aniline. 1H NMR (CDCl3) δ: 7.72 (d, 1H); 7.53 (t, 1H); 7.41 (t, 1H); 7.32 (d, 1H); 7.13 (d, 2H); 6.73 (d, 2H); 3.74 (br s, 2H).
