A mixture of 3-methoxy-3-(p-chlorophenyl)-1-chloropropane (27.4 mg, 0.125 mmol), 2-methyl-N-[3-(4-piperidinyl)phenyl]propanamide (28.3 mg, 0.125 mmol), diisopropylethylamine (0.50 mL) and catalytic amount of tetrabutylammonium iodide in dioxane (2.0 mL) was stirred at 90° C. for 72 hrs. The reaction mixture was concentrated to a small volume and chromatographed using preparative TLC plates [2.5% of NH3 (2.0 M in methanol) in CHCl3] gave N-(3-{1-[3-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-methoxypropyl]-4-piperidinyl}phenyl)-2-methylpropanamide (39.5 mg, 73.8% yield) as a thick oil: 1H NMR δ 7.48 (S, 1H), 7.34–7.3 (m, 2H), 7.25 (m, 4H), 6.96 (d, 1H, J=7.4 Hz), 4.20 (apparent dd, 1H, J=5.9, 7.6 Hz), 3.2 (s, 3H), 3.04 (d, 1H, J=10.1 Hz), 2.99 (d, 1H, J=10.1 Hz), 2.49 (h, 4H, J=6.6 Hz), 2.20–2.10 (m, 4H), 1.82 (m, 4H), 1.25 (d, 6H, J=7.1 Hz); ESMS m/e: 429.4 (M+H)+.
