A 250-mL, three-necked, round-bottomed flask, equipped with a magnetic stirring bar, a nitrogen inlet, a rubber septum, and a temperature probe is charged with methyl 2-methyl-3- nitrobenzoate 1 (7.50 g, 37.3 mmol)(Note 1) and anhydrous DMSO (52.5 mL)(Note 2). To the resulting mixture is charged sequentially 4-fluorobenzaldehyde (6.00 mL, 6.94 g, 1.5 equiv)(Note 3) and DBU (11.24 mL, 11.35 g, 2.00 equiv)(Note 4). The homogeneous, ...