Following the procedure described in Step 2 of Example 4, 6-bromo-1-methyl-2-naphthol (2.44 g 10.3 mmol) was coupled to ethyl 2-hydroxy-3-phenylpropanoate (3.0 g, 15 mmol) in presence of triphenylphosphine (4.17 g, 15.9 mmol) and diisopropyl azodicarboxylate (3.0 mL, 15 mmol) in benzene (65 mL). Purification by flash chromatography using 100% hexane and 1-4% ethyl acetate in hexane as eluants afforded ethyl 2-[(6-bromo-1-methyl-2-naphthyl)oxy]-3-phenylpropanoate as a transparent yellow gum (1.86 g). 1HNMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6): δ8.1 (s, 1H), 7.9 (d, 1H, J=7.0 Hz), 7.7 (d, 1H, J=7.0 Hz), 7.6 (d, 1H, J=6.3 Hz), 7.3-7.4 (m, 4 H), 7.2-7.3 (m, 2H), 5.25 (t, 1H, J=6.3 Hz), 4.1 (q, 2H, J=7.0 Hz), 3.25-3.35 (m, 2H), 2.45 (s, 3H), and 1.1 ppm (t, 3H, J=7.0 Hz).
