To a solution of Ethyl-4,6-dichloroquinoline-3-carboxylate (1.0 g, 3.7 mmol) in 1,4-dioxane (10 mL) was added a solution of 4-benzylbenzenamine (733 mg, 4.0 mmol) in 1,4-dioxane (10 mL) at room temperature. After stirred at 85° C. 1 hour, the reaction mixture was then cooled down to room temperature and then treated with 20 mL of water. The resulting suspension treated with 10 N NaOH solutions to reach the pH about 9. It was partitioned between ethyl acetate and water. The organic layer was separated and the aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organic extracts were washed with brine, dried over MgSO4, filtered and concentrated. The crude product was purified by flash column chromatography using a 9:1 v/v hexane:ethyl acetate as solvent to afford title compound (1.1 g, 65% yield) as a yellow solid.
