Step 1: Synthesis of (6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)methanol (compound 2) (Scheme 6)

A mixture of 6-(trifluoromethyl)nicotinaldehyde (170 mg, 1 mmol) and NaBH₄ (76 mg, 2 mmol) in MeOH (3 mL) was stirred at 0 °C for 3 hr. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuum, the residue was extracted with ethyl acetate (60 mL), washed with water (40 mL), dried over anhydrous Na₂SO₄, filtered and concentrated to leave the crude product (150 mg, yield 84%) as oil, which was used directly in the next step. LC-MS (ESI) m/z: 178[M+H]⁺.