Patent ID: 7838550

Claim:
A process for preparing a sulfonamide trifluoroalkyl substituted alcohol of the structure: wherein: R 1 and R 2 are independently selected from the group consisting of H and C 1 to C 6 alkyl; R 3 is selected from the group consisting of H and C 1 to C 6 alkyl; R 4 is (CF 3 ) n alkyl; n is 1 to 3; R 5 is selected from the group consisting of H, halogen, and CF 3 ; W, Y and Z are independently selected from the group consisting of C and CR 6 , wherein at least one of W, Y or Z is C; X is S; R 6 is selected from the group consisting of H, halogen, C 1 to C 6 alkyl, and substituted C 1 to C 6 alkyl; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or prodrug thereof; said process comprising reacting a trifluoroalkyl substituted amino alcohol, a sulfonyl chloride, and a base/solvent system selected from the group consisting of (a) 4-methyl morpholine/isopropyl acetate, (b) Hünig's base/tetrahydrofuran, (c) 4-methyl morpholine/acetonitrile, (d) 4-methyl morpholine/propionitrile, and (e) 4-methyl morpholine/toluene.