This compound can be obtained by two related ways: 1) The partial esterification of 3-nitrophthalic acid (I) with ethanol and H2SO4 gives 3-nitrophthalic acid 1-monoethyl ester (II), which is treated with SOCl2 in refluxing benzene to yield the corresponding acyl chloride (III). The reaction of (III) first with sodium azide in DMF and then with refluxing tert-butanol affords 2-(tert-butoxycarbonylamino)-3-nitrobenzoic acid ethyl ester (IV), which is condensed with 4-(2-cyanophenyl)benzyl bromide (V) by means of NaH in THF giving 2-(2'-cyanobiphenyl-4-ylmethylamino)-3-nitrobenzoic acid ethyl ester (VI). The reduction of (VI) with SnCl2.2H2O in ethanol yields the corresponding 3-amino derivative (VII), which is cyclocondensed with ethyl orthocarbonate and acetic acid affording 1-(2'-cyanobiphenyl-4-ylmethyl)-2-ethoxybenzimidazole-7-carboxylic acid ethyl ester (VIII). The reaction of (VIII) with trimethyltin azide in refluxing toluene gives the 2'-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl) derivative (IX), which is saponified with NaOH in ethanol to the corresponding free acid (X). Protection of (X) with trityl chloride and triethylamine in dichloromethane gives the protected compound (XI), which is finally esterified with cyclohexyl 1-iodoethyl carbonate (XII) by means of K2CO3 in DMF. 2) Compound (VIII) can also be obtained by reaction of 2-chloro-1-(2'-cyanobiphenyl-4-ylmethyl)benzimidazole-7-carboxylic acid ethyl ester (XIII) with sodium ethoxide in refluxing ethanol.