To a mixture of 4-chloro-N-[4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl]benzenecarboximidamide (Example 1, Step 1) (400 mg, 1.29 mmol) and sodium bicarbonate (216 mg, 2.59 mmol) in isopropanol (30 mL), 2-bromo-2'-acetonaphthone (970 mg, 3.89 mmol) was added. After heating the reaction mixture at 80°-85° C. for 20 hours, the solvent was removed. The residue was redissolved in methylene chloride and washed with aqueous sodium bicarbonate and water. The organic fractions were combined, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude product (1.2 g) was chromatographed (silica gel, hexane/ethyl acetate, 6/4) to give 2-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-[4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl]-4-(2-naphthyl)-1H-imidazole (318 mg, 54%) as a pale yellow solid: mp 204°-206° C. Anal Calc'd. for C26H19N2SO2Cl: C, 68.04, H, 4.17, N, 6.10, S, 6.99. Found: C, 67.65, H, 4.19, N, 5.96, S, 7.10.
