ethyl acetate in n hexane and silica gel 230 400 mesh to afford 5 4 methoxyphenyl 2 2 dimethyl 4 4 3 methylimidazo 1 2 a pyridin 2 yl methoxy phenyl furan 3 2h one 2 8 g 77 as an off white solid 1 h nmr 500 mhz dmso d 6 u03b4 8 25 d 1h 7 45 d 3h 7 25 t 1h 7 15 6 95 ar 7h 5 2 s 2h 3 85 s 3h 2 45 s 3h 1 45 s 6h ms m h m z 455 3 hplc 96 3 condition a 1 3 dichloroacetone 17 6 g 138 3 mmol was added to a solution of 6 methylpyridin 2 amine 10 g 92 5 mmol in acetonitrile 200 ml the mixture was heated at reflux for 14 h the reaction was monitored by tlc the mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure the residue was diluted with water and the ph was adjusted to 7 5 with sodium bicarbonate solution the mixture was extracted with etoac the combined organics were dried over sodium sulfate filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure the residue was purified by flash column chromatography using 10 ethyl acetate in n hexane and silica gel 230 400 mesh to afford 2 chloromethyl 5 methylimidazo 1 2 a pyridine 7 0 g 70 7 as a pale yellow solid 1 h nmr 200 mhz cdcl 3 u03b4 8 15 s.