Ethyl 4-azido-2,5-difluoro-3-difluoromethoxybenzoate → Ethyl 4-amino-2,5-difluoro-3-difluoromethoxybenzoate

In 210 ml of ethanol and 70 ml of ethyl acetate was dissolved 13.8 g of ethyl 4-azido-2,5-difluoro-3-difluoromethoxybenzoate, and 1.38 g of 5% palladium-carbon was added to the solution, after which the resulting mixture was stirred at 50° C. for six hours under a hydrogen stream. The reaction mixture was filtered, and the filtrate obtained was concentrated under reduced pressure, to obtain 12.3 g of colorless, crystalline ethyl 4-amino-2,5-difluoro-3-difluoromethoxybenzoate.