3-(3-Bromophenylsulfanyl)propane-1-ol (0.49 g) was suspended in acetonitrile (8.5 mL), 4-cyanophenylboronic acid (0.34 g), sodium carbonate (0.42 g), water (1.7 mL) and tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) (0.12 g) were added, and the resulting mixture was stirred at 80° C. for 7 hours. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and then partitioned between ethyl acetate (35 mL) and water (10 mL). The organic layer was washed successively with water (10 mL) and brine (10 mL), dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by column chromatography on silica gel (eluent: hexane/ethyl acetate=2/1) to give the title compound (0.38 g).
