1-(9-Decenyl)-3,7-dimethylxanthine (3.2 g, 10.1 mmol), 4-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (1.41 g, 12 mmol), 3 drops of 2.5% osmium tetroxide solution in t-butanol, acetone (40 ml) and water (10 ml) were stirred for 24 hours. Following addition of 5 ml of a saturated solution of sodium dithionite and a further 15 minutes of stirring, the reaction mixture was extracted with four 50 ml aliquots of 25% ethanol/dichloromethane. The combined organic portions were dried over sodium sulfate. Evaporating the solvents left a white solid residue, which upon recrystallization in ethanol produced 3.3 g of 1-(9,10-dihydroxydecyl)-3,7-dimethylxanthine (93% yield).
