A solution of (7-bromo-6-nitro-4-quinazolinyl)-(3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)amine hydrochloride (42.0 g, 96.8 mmol), 1-(1,1-dimethyl-2-propynyl)-4-methylpiperazine (4a) (19.3 g, 116 mmol) and triethylamine (47.2 mL, 339 mmol) in DMSO (400 mL) was subjected 3 times to the step of degassing under reduced pressure and then displacement with nitrogen. Copper iodide (I) (460.8 mg, 2.4 mmol), triphenylphosphine (2.53 g, 9.6 mmol) and palladium(II) acetate (543 mg, 2.4 mmol) were added. The mixture was stirred at 80° C. for 9 hrs and allowed to cool to room temperature. The mixture was poured into ethyl acetate (750 mL) and 1% aqueous ammonia solution (1.5 L), and Celite (50 g) was added, which was followed by stirring. Insoluble material was filtered off and the organic layer was washed with brine (500 mL×2) and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure and ethyl acetate-methanol mixed solvent (10:1, 130 mL) was added to the residue. The mixture was stirred and the precipitate was collected by filtration. The filtered product was suspension-washed with acetonitrile (100 mL) and dried to give a nitro compound 3a (23.3 g, 48.3 mmol, 50%).
