To N-(Diphenylmethylene)aminoacetonitrile (0.360 g, 1.633 mmol) in 10 ml of anhydrous THF and HMPA (hexamethyl phosphoramidite) (0.38 ml, 2.12 mmol), at −78° C., LDA (2.0 M, 1.06 ml, 2.12 mmol) was added dropwise over a period of 5 minutes. The color of solution turns from colorless to yellow to dark brown. It was then stirred at −78° C. for one hour. 4-Chloromethylquinoline (0.29 g, 1.63 mmol) was added dropwise over a period of 5 minutes and the reaction mixture was slowly brought to room temperature over a period of five minutes. The reaction mixture was quenched by addition of ice and partitioned between EtOAc (20 ml) and water (5 ml). The organic layer was dried over sodium sulfate, filtered concentrated and column purified (hexanes:EtOAc; 3.5:1.5) to give 0.155 g (26%) of the product as a syrup, which was used as such for the subsequent step.
