To a mixture of N-[4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl]-4-(2-thienyl)benzenecarboximidamide (0.7 g, 1.96 mmol) and sodium bicarbonate (0.33 g, 3.93 mmol) in 2-propanol (30 mL) was added 3-bromo-1,1,1-trifluoroacetone (0.449 g, 2.35 mmol). After the reaction mixture was heated to 80° C. for 21 hours, the solvent was removed. The residue was redissolved in CH2Cl2 (50 mL) and washed with water (30 mL×2). The organic fractions were combined, dried over Na2SO4, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude mixture was purified by flash chromatography eluting with hexane/ethyl acetate (2/1) to give the subtitle compound (0.351 g, 30.1% yield, via 2 steps).
