TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The strong base used in reaction step (b) is lithium diisopropylamide (LDA). Preferred Definitions:    R and R'=methyl.    SPECIFIC COMPOUNDS - Preparation of 1 compound i.e. 5-bromo-7-azaindole of formula (Ia) is disclosed as compound (I).    EXAMPLE - A mixture of 2-amino-5-bromo-3-methylpyridine (37.4 g) and N,N-dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal (33 ml) was heated to reflux temperature for 15 hours. The reaction mixture was cooled and then concentrated under vacuum (35-40 mmHg) at 55 degrees C to constant weight. Heptane (45 ml) was added in one portion and the mixture stirred for 30 minutes. The mixture was cooled to -20 degrees C and then kept at this temperature for 5 hours for crystallization. The crystals were filtered, washed with cold heptane (30 g) and dried under vacuum at room temperature to obtain N-(5-bromo-3-methyl-pyridin-2-yl)-N,N-dimethyl-formamidine (A1) (44.55 g, yield 92%). A four-necked flask fitted with a thermometer, adding funnel, and mechanical stirring was flushed with nitrogen for 3 times before use. To this flask, lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) (2 M in tetrahydrofuran (THF), 75 ml) was added and then cooled to -30 plus minus 2 degrees C. In a separate vessel, compound A1 (24.2 g) was dissolved in dry THF (121 ml) and then the solution was injected into the adding funnel. This solution was added slowly within 2 hours. The reaction mixture was then kept at the same temperature for 5-6 hours. A mixture of acetic acid (20 ml) and THF (50 ml) was then added drop wise with further vigorous stirring for 10 minutes. Then water (150 ml) was injected until two clear phases appeared. The organic layer was separated and the aqueous phase was extracted with 4x 100 ml of hot toluene (40 degrees C). The organic layers were combined and THF was removed under vacuum at 45 degrees C. The residual toluene solution was washed with water (3x 150 ml) and saturated sodium chloride solution (2x 150 ml), and dried over MgSO4 (8 g) for 1 hour. After filtration, the mixture was concentrated under vacuum to furnish black, sticky oil (20.5 g). This oil was heated in toluene (40 ml) until complete dissolution, and was subsequently cooled to room temperature. The mixture was kept at this temperature for 10 hours, then cooled and kept at 0 degrees C for 2 hours for crystallization. After filtration, the solid was washed by a small amount of toluene and dried at 50 degrees C for 6 hours. The dried solid was dissolved in toluene (15 ml) and refluxed with charcoal for 1 hour. After filtration, charcoal was washed with toluene. The solutions were combined, cooled to 0 degrees C and kept at this temperature for 2 hours for crystallization. The crystals were isolated by filtration, washed with cold toluene and dried at 50 degrees C for 8 hours under vacuum to obtain 5-bromo-7-azaindole (2.1 g, HPLC purity greater than or equal to 99%).