In 1200 ml of dimethyl sulfoxide was suspended 165.0 g of 3-chloromethyl-5,6-dimethoxy-1-(1-trityl-4-imidazolyl)methyl-1H-indazole, followed by stirring at room temperature. To the suspension was added 43.6 g of potassium cyanide, having been ground to powder in a mortar, and the mixture was stirred at 70° C. for 1 hour. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into 15000 ml of water with vigorous stirring, followed by stirring for 1 hour. A precipitated solid was collected, washed with three 1000 ml portions of water, and dissolved in 5000 ml of chloroform. The solution was dried over sodium sulfate, filtered, and the solvent was evaporated. Silica gel column chromatography (ethyl acetate) of the residue yielded 108.7 g of a pale brown solid, which was used in the next reaction as such.
