Step ii: Synthesis of 1-(2-bromoethyl)-4-(trifluoromethyl)benzene
To a 50 mL round bottom flask was added 2-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethanol (7.9 g, 0.0415 mol) and phosphorus tribromide (5.6 g, 0.0207 mol). The reaction mixture was stirred at 100 °C for 2 hours. After completion of the reaction, the reaction was quenched by adding ice-cold water to the mixture. The reaction mixture was extracted with hexane and the organic layer was separated. The organic layer was washed with brine and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The solvent was removed by concentration under reduced pressure to give the crude product. The crude product was purified by column chromatography using 60-120 mesh silica gel as stationary phase and 0-5% ethyl acetate in hexane solution as eluent to give 4-(trifluoromethyl)phenylethyl bromide (7.8 g, 74% yield).
1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3): δ 7.60 (d, 2H), 7.35 (d, 2H), 3.61 (t, 2H), 3.25 (t, 2H).
