0.87 g (3.7 mmol) of 1,4-dibromobenzene, 2.00 g (7.4 mmol) of 2-fluoro-6-octyloxypyridin-3-boronic acid (prepared as described in Example 5), 0.56 g (0.46 mmol) of tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) and 5 g (46.1 mmol) of sodium carbonate in 50 ml of benzene, 35 ml of ethanol and 20 ml of water are refluxed for 18 hours. After distributing the reaction mixture between water and dichloromethane, the organic phase is washed with sodium chloride solution, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated. Purification of the residue by chromatography (silica gel, CH2Cl2) and recrystallization from acetonitrile give 1.55 g of 1,4-di(2-fluoro-6-octyloxypyridine-3-yl)benzene. ##STR36##
