A mixture of Zn—Cu couple (2.68 g, 41.3 mmol) and tert-butyl(3-iodopropoxy)dimethylsilane (8.26 g, 27.5 mmol) in benzene (55 mL) and DMF (3.6 mL) was stirred vigorously at room temperature for 1 hour, heated to 60° C. for 4 hours, cooled to room temperature, and treated with a solution of 4-nitrobenzoyl chloride (3.4 g, 18.3 mmol) and (Ph3P)4Pd (0.847 g, 0.73 mmol) in benzene (36 mL) by cannula. The mixture was stirred for 1 hour, filtered through diatomaceous earth (Celite™), and partitioned between saturated NH4Cl and ethyl acetate. The aqueous phase was extracted three times with ethyl acetate and the combined extracts were washed with water and brine, dried (Na2SO4), filtered, and concentrated. The concentrate was purified by flash column chromatography on silica gel with 5% ethyl acetate/hexanes to provide 2.81 g of the desired product. MS(ESI(−)) m/e 322 (M−H)−.
