In 25 ml of dry acetonitrile was dissolved 5.0 g (11.5 mmol) of imidazole (101e), followed by addition of 1.7 g (23 mmol) of lithium carbonate and 2.7 g (17.5 mmol) of diethyl sulfate. The mixture was stirred under heating at 70° C. for 23 hours. After cooling, the reaction mixture was diluted with water and extracted with ethyl acetate. The extract was washed with water, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (ethyl acetate) to provide 5.3 g (yield 98%) of 2-(3-benzyloxypropyl)-5-(3,5-dichlorophenylthio)-4-isopropyl-1-ethyl-1H-imidazole (136b) as oil.
