Patent ID: 7563877

Claim:
A process for preparing a compound of formula (XI): Wherein R 3 and R 4 are hydrogen; or one of R 3 or R 4 is a hydrogen and the other is selected from: (a) C(O)R 5 , where R 5 is C 1 -C 6 alkyl, optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from aryl, substituted aryl, heteroaryl, or substituted heteroaryl; (b) C(O)OR 5 , where R 5 is as previously defined; or R 3 and R 4 are taken together with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached to form wherein A and B are each independently hydrogen, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic group, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alicyclic group, or a substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl group; or A and B taken together with the carbon to which they are attached form a cyclic moiety selected from: aryl, substituted aryl, heterocyclic, substituted heterocyclic, alicyclic, or substituted alicyclic; alternatively, R 3 and R 4 are taken together with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached to form N═C(R 6 )(R 7 ), where R 6 and R 7 are each independently selected from a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group, a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic group, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alicyclic group, or a substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl group; said process comprising: (1) reducing 4-(hydroxymethyl)-2-nitrophenol with a reducing agent to provide compound of formula (XII): (2) reacting cyanogen bromide with compound of formula (XII) in a solvent to give compound of formula (XIII): (3) halogenating the resulting compound with a chlorinating reagent to provide a compound of formula (XIV); (4) treating compound of formula (XIV) with a compound of formula R 3 R 4 NOH in the presence of base to yield a compound of formula (XI).