“…Transition-metal-catalyzed aryl ether formation has been a rapidly developing area in recent years, , but application to 4-quinoline ethers has been very rare, probably partly because quinoline-promoted ligand exchange can destroy some catalyst complexes. So far, the most frequently employed method in drug discovery is via alkylation of 4-hydroxyquinolines (S N 2 approach, Scheme ), but it has the following limitation and drawbacks. (1) The regio-selectivity of O-alkylation versus N-alkylation is poor and difficult to control, , unless one position is totally blocked.…”