A suspension of methyl 8-bromo-1,2,3,4-terahydro-1-benzoazocine-5-carboxylate (6.0 g), 4-(2-butoxyethoxy)phenyl boric acid (6.26 g) and potassium carbonate (7.28 g) in toluene (100 ml), ethanol (10 ml) and water (10 ml) was stirred under argon atmosphere for 1 hour, after which tetrakis(triphenylphosphin)palladium (1.17 g) was added, and the mixture was refluxed for 6 hours. After returning to room temperature, water was added and the reaction mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer was washed with saturated brine, and dried with magnesium sulfate. The solvent was distilled off under reduced pressure, and the resulting residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (hexane:ethyl acetate=9:1 hexane:ethyl acetate=4:1), and recrystallized from hexane-ethyl acetate to give methyl 8-(4-(2-butoxyethoxy)phenyl)-1,2,3,4-terahydro-1-benzoazocine-5-carboxylate (3.33 g) as a yellow solid.
