A solution of 2,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl bromide (4.45 g), 3-hydroxypyrrolidine (1.2 g), palladium(II) acetate (0.16 g), (±)-2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1′-binaphthyl (0.87 g) and cesium carbonate (13.6 g) in toluene (74 mL) was stirred under an argon gas atmosphere at 80° C. for 16 hr. The reaction mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature, water was added, and the mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate. The extract was washed with saturated brine, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated, and the residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (hexane:ethyl acetate 90:10-75:25) to give the title compound (3.79 g, yield 91%) as an orange oil.
