A flask was charged under nitrogen with 3-bromo-5-(2-oxo-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-benzoic acid methyl ester (D9a) (298 mg, 1 mmol, 1 equiv), Cs2CO3 (488 mg, 1.5 mmol, 1.5 equiv), tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium(0) (18.3 mg, 0.02 mmol, 0.02 equiv), 2-(di-tert-butylphosphino)biphenyl (18 mg, 0.06 mmol, 0.06 equiv) and DME (8 ml). Aniline (136 μl, 1.5 mmol, 1.5 equiv) was then added via syringe and the resulting mixture was stirred at 100° C. for 16 h then cooled to room temperature, diluted with H2O and AcOEt. The layers were separated and the aqueous phase was extracted with AcOEt. The combined organic phases were dried over MgSO4 and concentrated in vacuo. Purification of the residue by flash chromatography on silica gel (iso-hexane/AcOEt: 3/1 to 1/1) gave 3-(2-oxo-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-5-phenylamino-benzoic acid methyl ester (B30) (100 mg, 32%) as a white solid. [M+H]+=311.0, RT=3.14 min
