A mixture of 1-(2-bromo-4-nitrobenzyl)-4-methylpiperazine (0.94 g, 3.0 mmol), 0.77 g (9.0 mmol) of cyclopropylboronic acid, 0.067 g (0.30 mmol) of Pd(OAc)2, 2.87 g (13.5 mmol) of K3PO4, and 0.168 g (0.60 mmol) of tricyclohexylphosphine in 18 mL of toluene/water (5:1) was heated at reflux under an atmosphere of N2 for 19 h. The reaction mixture was concentrated and the crude product was purified by silica gel chromatography (eluted with 5% MeOH/DCM; MeOH was pre-saturated with ammonia gas) to provide 0.80 g of product.
