To a 50-mL round-bottomed flask was added 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-(4-(2-(3-methoxybenzyl)-4-(thiophen-2-ylsulfonyl)piperazin-1-yl)phenyl)propan-2-ol (38 mg, 0.064 mmol, Example 175) and BBr3 (0.025 mL, 0.256 mmol, Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo.) in DCE (3 mL). The reaction mixture was stirred at 80° C. for 2 h and then diluted with saturated NaHCO3 (20 mL) and extracted with EtOAc (2×30 mL). The organic extracts were washed with saturated aqueous NaCl (10 mL) and dried over Na2SO4. The solution was filtered and concentrated in vacuo to give the crude material as a light-yellow glass. The crude product was purified by silica gel chromatography, eluting with 40% EtOAc in hexanes to give 3-((1-(4-(1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)phenyl)-4-(thiophen-2-ylsulfonyl)piperazin-2-yl)methyl)phenol (32 mg) (racemic mixture) as a light-yellow tar.
