A mixture of 5-bromo-1-fluoro-2-methyl-3-nitro-benzene (5.0 g, 21.31 mmol, 1.0 eq), 3-fluorophenylboronic acid (3.29 g, 23.8 mmol, 1.1 eq), Pd(PPh3)4 (1.2 g, 1.07 mmol, 0.05 eq) and K2CO3 (11.8 g, 85.5 mmol, 4 eq) in a mixture of dioxane (150 mL) and EtOH (50 mL) was heated at 80° C. under N2 overnight. After cooling to room temperature the reaction was poured into water and extracted with EtOAc. The combined organic extracts were washed with water and brine, dried (Na2SO4), filtered and evaporated in vacuo to give the title compound as an oil (4.0 g, 75%). This material was used without further purification.
