40% Methanolic Triton B (2.18 mL, 4.8 mM) was slowly added dropwise to a solution of 5-carbomethoxy-1,2-dihydro-9H-carbazol-4(3H)-one (973 mg, 4.0 mM) in 10 mL of DMF at −10° C. After 30 minutes, 3-(trifluoromethyl)benzyl chloride (1.53 g, 6.0 mM) and sodium iodide (900 mg, 6.0 mM) were added and the resultant mixture stirred at room temperature for 25 hours. The mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate, washed five times with H2O, 1 N HCl, H2O, sat NaHCO3, and saturated brine, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered, concentrated, and dried in vacuo. The residue was purified by column chromatography on silica gel (elution with gradient methylene chloride/ethyl acetate) to afford 1.02 g (63%) of the 9-[(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)methyl]-5-carbomethoxy-1,2-dihydrocarbazol-4(3H)-one as a tan solid. 1H NMR (CDCl3) δ7.6 (d, 1H, J=8 Hz), 7.45-7.2 (m, 5H), 7.0 (d, 1H, J=8 Hz), 5.4 (s, 2H), 4.05 (s, 3H), 2.85 (t, 2H, J=6 Hz), 2.6 (t, 2H, J=6 Hz), and 2.2 (m, 2H). IR (KBr, cm−1) 1727 and 1652. MS (ES) m/e 400, 402.
