To a stirred solution of 3-chloro-4-(hydroxymethyl)phenol (120 mg, 0.54 mmol) and 3-cyano-N-(2,4-di methoxybenzyl)-4-fluoro-N-(5-fluoropyridin-2-yl)benzenesulfonamide (Preparation 18, 100 mg, 0.22 mmol) in DMSO (1.5 mL) was added potassium carbonate (78 mg, 0.56 mmol) and the reaction stirred at room temperature for 72 hours. Water (10 mL) and EtOAc (15 mL) were added and the layers separated. The aqueous phase was extracted with EtOAc. The combined organic extracts were washed with brine, dried over magnesium sulphate and concentrated in vacuo. The crude product was purified by silica gel column chromatography eluting with 3:2 EtOAc:heptanes. The residue (76 mg, 0.13 mmol) was dissolved in DCM (2 mL) and treated with TFA (2 mL). The reaction was stirred at room temperature for 18 hours. MeOH (1 mL) was added and the reaction concentrated in vacuo. The crude product was purified by silica gel column chromatography eluting with 10-30% EtOAc in DCM to afford the title compound (25 mg, 44%) as a colourless solid (25 mg, 44%).
