63.2 g of methyl 10-(4-heptylphenyl)-10-hydroxydecanoate are converted to the sodium alcoholate with 10 g of a 50% sodium hydride/liquid paraffin dispersion in 500 ml of dimethyl sulfoxide. When the evolution of hydrogen is complete, a solution of 69.6 g of 4-(4-mesyloxycyclohexyl)-butylcyclohexane (prepared from the corrsponding cyclohexanol with mesyl chloride/triethylamine in dichloromethane) in 120 ml of dimethyl sulfoxide is added dropwise at 20° C. Stirring is continued for a further 2 hours at 50° C., and the mixture is poured onto 2 liters of ice water and extracted with dichloromethane. The residue obtained after removal of the solvent is chromatographed over silica gel, using chloroform as the eluant. Methyl 10-(4-(4-butylcyclohexyl)-cyclohexyloxy)-10-(4-heptylphenyl)-decanoate is isolated.
