Patent ID: 7728027

Claim:
A process for preparing a compound of formula (7) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof wherein n is 0, 1, or 2; s is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4; u and v are each independently selected from 0, 1, 2, or 3; X is selected from O, S, S(O), SO 2 , CH 2 , CHR 5 , and C(R 5 ) 2 ; provided that when n is 0, X is selected from CH 2 , CHR 5 , and C(R 5 ) 2 ; R 1 and R 2 are each independently selected from alkoxy, alkyl, and halo; when s is 1, 2, 3, or 4, each R 5 on the ring is independently selected from alkoxy, alkyl, and aryl, wherein the alkyl can optionally form a fused three- to six-membered ring with an adjacent carbon atom, wherein the three- to six-membered ring is optionally substituted with one or two alkyl groups; provided that the two heterocyclic rings substituting the imidazole rings are identical; the process comprising: (a) reacting a compound of formula (3) wherein u, v, R 1 , and R 2 are as described for formula (7); and LG is a leaving group; with a compound of formula (4) wherein PG is a nitrogen protecting group; (b) treating the product of step (a) with a reagent selected from ammonium acetate, ammonium formate, ammonium sulfamate, ammonium phosphate, ammonium citrate, ammonium carbamate, and ammonia; and (c) treating the product of step (b) with a deprotecting agent.