A mixture of 2-chloro-3-(1-cyanocyclopropyl)-N-(2-fluoro-5-hydroxyphenyl)benzamide (23.0 g, 69.6 mmol), 2-chloro-5-nitropyridine (12.2 g, 77.1 mmol), potassium carbonate (11.5 g, 83.1 mmol) and N,N-dimethylformamide (70 mL) was stirred at room temperature for 4 hr. To the reaction mixture were added N,N-dimethylformamide (130 mL) and water (250 mL), and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hr. The precipitate was collected by filtration, washed with water (200 mL), and dried under reduced pressure to give the title compound (29.3 g, 93%) as a gray powder.
