1.11 g of sodium acetate were added to a solution of 2.67 g of diethyl11-benzyl-2-bromomethylimidazole-4,5-dicarboxylate [prepared as described in Preparation 42(ii)] in 30 ml of dimethylformamide, and the resulting mixture was heated at 40° C. for 5 hours. At the end of this time, the reaction solution was mixed with ethyl acetate and water, and then the ethyl acetate layer was separated. The resulting ethyl acetate extract was washed with an aqueous solution of sodium chloride and then dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The solvent was then removed by distillation under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by column chromatography through silica gel, using a 1:1 by volume mixture of hexane and ethyl acetate as the eluent, to give 1.52 g of the title compound as a syrup.
