A mixture of 5-(3-hydroxypropyl)-1-methyl-2-ethylimidazole (150 mg, 0.89 mmol), 4-(2-methyl-tetrazol-5-yl)-2,6-dimethylphenol (200 mg, 0.98 mmol), and triphenylphosphine (257 mg, 0.98 mmol) was dissolved in 10 ml of THF under nitrogen at 0° C. To the above solution was added at 0° C. DEAD (170.5 mg, 0.98 mmol) and the mixture was stirred for 2 h allowing the mixture to warm to 20° C. The solvent was removed in vacuo, and the residue was purified by silica column chromatography (20 cm column, ethyl acetate/hexane, 1/1-3/1; methylene chloride/methanol 30/1-10/1) to afford 376 mg (quantitative) of 5-[3-[4-(2-methyl-tetrazol-5-yl)-2,6-dimethylphenoxy]-propyl]-1-methyl-2-ethyl-imidazole, as a white crystalline solid, m.p. 96°-98° C. (recrystallization from methylene chloride/hexane).
