with a stronger base such as NaOH, KOH and LiOH,afforded 2a in moderate yield, except with LiOH (Table 1,entries 3-5). The addition of CuI was deteriorative (Table 1,entry 6). Different solvents were screened in order to increasethe yield (Table 1, entries 7-10). The best result was obtainedwhen DMSO was used as a solvent (Table 1, entry 10). Thereaction time was reduced by using more base equivalentwith a similar yield (Table 1, entry 11). The yield wasdiminished at 100
