Hydrochloric Acid → (3RS,4RS)-[4-[3-(naphthalen-2-ylmethoxy)-piperidin-4-yl]-phenyl}-methanol

A solution of 1.10 g (1.59 mmol) of tert-butyl (3RS,4RS)-3-naphthalen-2-ylmethoxy-4-(4-trityloxymethyl-phenyl)-piperidine-1-carboxylate in 50 ml of methanol was treated at room temperature with 30 ml of a 2M solution of hydrogen chloride in methanol and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 4 hours. Subsequently, the solution was evaporated under reduced pressure and the residue was partitioned between 30 ml of saturated sodium carbonate solution and 50 ml of ethyl acetate. The aqueous phase was again extracted with 50 ml of ethyl acetate, thereafter the organic phases were combined, dried over sodium sulphate and evaporated under reduced pressure. For purification, the crude product was chromatographed on silica gel using a 90:10 mixture of methylene chloride and methanol as the eluent. There were obtained 462 mg (83% of theory) of (3RS,4RS)-[4-[3-(naphthalen-2-ylmethoxy)-piperidin-4-yl]-phenyl}-methanol as a colourless solid; MS: 348 (M+H)+.