A mixture of triphenylphosphine (1.34 g, 5.09 mmol), 3-methyl-1-(4′-(trifluoromethyl)biphenyl-4-yl)butan-1-ol (942 mg, 3.06 mmol), and methyl 6-hydroxynicotinate (0.390 g, 2.55 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran (30 mL) was stirred at room temperature for 0.5 hours. Diisopropyl azodicarboxylate (1.02 g, 5.09 mmol) was added dropwise. After consumption of the starting material, as indicated by TLC, the mixture was concentrated. Purification by column chromatography gave methyl 6-(3-methyl-1-(4′-(trifluoromethyl)biphenyl-4-yl)butoxy)nicotinate (400.0 mg, 36%). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ): 8.69 (d, 1H), 8.04-8.06 (m, 1H), 7.56-7.61 (m, 4H), 7.42-7.48 (m, 4H), 6.72 (d, 1H), 6.20-6.24 (m, 1H), 3.78 (s, 3H), 1.94-2.01 (m, 1H), 1.58-1.72 9 (m, 2H), 0.89-0.94 (m, 6H).
