The acylation of aniline (I) with methanesulfonyl chloride (II) in pyridine gives the corresponding sulfonamide (III), which is submitted to a Friedel-Crafts condensation with succinic anhydride (IV) and AlCl3 in hot carbon disulfide to afford 4-[4-(methanesulfonyl)phenyl]-4-oxobutyric acid (V). The amidation of (V) with N-ethylheptylamine (VI) yields the corresponding amide (VII), which is finally reduced with LiAlH4 in THF and treated with an ethanolic solution of fumaric acid in order to precipitate the corresponding salt.