A mixture of caesium carbonate (1.87 g, 5.75 mmol) and tri-t-butylphosphine (107 μL, 0.44 mmol) in dry 1,2 dimethoxyethane (10 mL) was treated with tris-(dibenzylideneacetone)di-palladium (81 mg, 0.09 mmol), 2-Bromo-6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridine (1 g, 4.42 mmol) and diethylmalonate (0.8 mL, 5.3 mmol) under nitrogen atmosphere. The mixture was heated to 150° C. for 30 min in a microwave oven. After cooling to 20° C. the mixture was treated with a saturated solution of ammonium chloride (120 mL) and extracted with ethyl ether (3×80 mL). The organic phase was dried and evaporated to give a crude oil that was purified by flash chromatography eluting with n-hexane/ethyl ether 6/1.
