A mixture of 1b (0.75 g, 4.1 mmol) and 2d (0.9 g, 4.1 mmol) in anhydrous NMP (2 ml) was heated to 80° C. overnight under a stream of nitrogen. After cooling water (20 ml) was added and the mixture was extracted with dichloromethane. The organic extract was dried over sodium sulfate and the solvent was removed under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by column-chromatography on silica gel using ethyl acetate as the eluent to yield 4-acetyl-N-(3-(1-acetylpiperazin-4-yl)phenyl)-2-nitroaniline as an oil.
