To a mixture of 4-({5-(2-phenylethyl)-3-[4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-1H-pyrazol-1-yl}methyl)benzaldehyde (868 mg, 2.0 mmol), ethyl 3-(4-amino-2-fluorophenyl)propanoate (420 mg, 2.0 mmol), acetic acid (300 mg, 5.0 mmol) and 1,2-dichloroethane (15 mL) was added sodium triacetoxyborohydride (1.20 g, 6.0 mmol) by small portions at room temperature and the mixture was stirred for 1 hr. The reaction mixture was poured into 10% aqueous sodium hydrogencarbonate solution, and the mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate. The extract was dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (20%-60% ethyl acetate/hexane) to give the title compound as a yellow oil.
