Dissolve methyl 5-chloro-2-(trifluoromethyl)benzoate (500 mg, 2.1 mmol), zinc (II) cyanide (197 mg, 1.68 mmol), zinc (55 mg, 0.84 mmol), di-palladium (II) tris(dibenzylideneacetone) (192 mg, 0.21 mmol), and diphenylphosphino ferrocene (233 mg, 0.42 mmol) in dimethylacetamide (20 mL). Heat the reaction mixture to 85° C., and stir for 12 hours. Pour the resulting mixture into water, and extract with EtOAc (2×100 mL). Dry the combined organics over sodium sulfate; filter; collect the filtrate; and concentrate the filtrate under reduced pressure. Purify the residue by silica gel chromatography eluting with 50:1 petroleum ether:EtOAc to give the title compound (320 mg, 66.5% yield) as a white solid. 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3,) δ 8.09 (s, 1H), 7.90 (s, 2H), 3.80 (s, 3H).
