Efficient synthesis of a novel euchromatic histone methyl transferase 2 (G9a) inhibitor

[Display omitted] •An efficient synthetic route was set up to prepare a novel bicycle derivative.•The key cyclopropyl nitrile intermediate was easily got from a cis-cinnamate ester.•The title racemate was smoothly resolved into pure enantiomers by chiral HPLC. An efficient synthetic route was set up to prepare in good scale M-108, a novel bicycle derivative recently identified as a potent and selective G9a inhibitor, potentially useful as anti-fibroadipogenic agent. In particular, a facile three-steps sequential transformation of a substituted cis-cinnamate ethyl ester intermediate allowed to obtain the corresponding cyclopropyl nitrile derivative in high yield, which was smoothly transformed into the title racemate and then resolved by chiral HPLC.