A mixture of commercially available 4-bromo-2-methoxybenzaldehyde (2.15 g, 10.0 mmol), tosylmethyl isocyanide (TosMIC, 2.94 g, 15 mmol) and K2CO3 in anhydrous MeOH (45 mL) was heated at reflux for 24 h. After cooling to room temperature, the mixture was poured into 300 mL of ice-water and the solid precipitated was filtered. The solid was washed with water, air-dried, collected and dried in vacuo to give bromide as a yellow solid (2.09 g, 83%).