Ethyl 2-(2-oxopyrrolidin-3-yl)acetate (1.77 g, 10.34 mmol) was dissolved in DMF (20 mL) and cooled to 0° C. Sodium hydride (60% in mineral oil, 0.414 g, 10.34 mmol) was added. After stirring for several min, the reaction was allowed to warm to room temperature and stirred for 10 min. 4-(Benzyloxy)-1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene (2.56 g, 10.34 mmol) was added and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 21 h. The reaction was poured into water and acidified to pH 5 with 1.0 M HCL. The aqueous mixture was extracted three times with EtOAc and the combined extracts were dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by column chromatography to provide the title compound (1.09 g). LCMS m/z=399.4 [M+H]+; 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ ppm 1.27 (t, J=7.2 Hz, 3H), 1.97-2.01 (m, 1H), 2.46-2.59 (m, 2H), 2.95 (dd, J=12.9, 3.8 Hz, 1H), 2.96-3.06 (m, 1H), 3.69-3.76 (m, 1H), 3.79-3.88 (m, 1H), 4.17 (q, J=7.1 Hz, 2H), 5.13 (s, 2H), 6.90 (d, J=2.5 Hz, 1H), 6.94 (dd, J=9.0, 2.7 Hz, 1H), 7.37-7.42 (m, 5H), 8.04 (d, J=9.1 Hz, 1H).
