To a solution of 4-bromo-6-fluoro-1-{3-fluoro-4-[(phenylmethyl)oxy]phenyl}-1H-indazole (D7) (670 mg, 1.61 mmol) in dioxane (20 mL) and water (20 mL) was added potassium hydroxide (362 mg, 6.46 mmol). The reaction mixture was degassed with argon and then treated with bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)[2′,4′,6′-tris(1-methylethyl)-2-biphenylyl]phosphane (41 mg, 0.097 mmol) and tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium (0) (30 mg, 0.033 mmol). After heating at 90° C. for 1 hour, the mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and then diluted with ethyl acetate and water. The pH was adjusted to 7 by the addition of 1M hydrochloric acid. After separation of the layers, the aqueous phase was re-extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were dried over magnesium sulphate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The product was purified by silica gel chromatography eluting with 5-80% ethyl acetate in hexane to yield the title compound (D8) (473 mg).
