GENERAL STEPS: 2-Chloro-N-methyl-N-(4-nitrophenyl)acetamide (210.0 g, 0.9185 mol) was suspended in toluene (1157.56 mL) and heated to 40 °C. The mixture was then purified by aqueous solution of N-methylpiperazine (252.65 mL, 2.48 eq.). N-methylpiperazine (252.65 mL, 2.48 eq.) was added dropwise over 30 min. The reaction mixture was stirred at 55 °C for 2 hours. After cooling to room temperature, the reaction mixture was washed with water (157.23 mL) and the organic layer was diluted with isopropanol (1075.33 mL). Palladium/carbon catalyst (18.81 g) was added and hydrogenated overnight at 20 °C under 1 bar hydrogen pressure. After the reaction was complete, the catalyst was removed by filtration and the filtrate was concentrated to about 150 mL and ground with ether (120.0 mL). The crystalline product was collected by filtration, washed with ether and dried under vacuum to afford N-(4-aminophenyl)-N-methyl-2-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)acetamide 170 g (70.5% yield).
