A mixture of 29.0 g (0.1 mole) of α-phenyl-α-(p-tolyl)-4-piperidinemethanol, 32 g (0.12 mole) of 4'-tert-butyl-4-chlorobutyrophenone, 20 g of potassium bicarbonate, 0.1 g of potassium iodide, 300 ml of toluene and 50 ml of water is stirred on a steam bath for 88 hours. Upon cooling to room temperature the toluene layer is separated, and the aqueous layer is extracted with toluene. The combined toluene fractions are washed with water and saturated sodium chloride solution, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated to an oil. The oily residue is dissolved in dry ether and filtered. The filtrate is treated with ethereal HCl, and the resulting precipitate is collected and recrystallized from methanol-butanone to give 4'-tert-butyl-4-[4-[α-hydroxy-α-(p-tolyl)benzyl]-piperidino]butyrophenone hydrochloride, M.P. 194°-196.5°C.
