A solution of ethanethiol (2.85 ml) in anhydrous DMF (125 mL) under N2 atmosphere was cooled in an ice bath and treated dropwise with 20.1 mL of 1.6 M n-BuLi in hexane. The resulting solution, which was approximately 0.22 M in lithium thioethylate (LiSEt) was allowed to warm to ambient temperature prior to its use. To 1-[4-[2-(1-piperidinyl)-ethoxy]phenoxy]-2-(−3-methoxyphenyl)-6-methoxynaphthalene hydrochloride (0.550 g, 1.05 mmol) under nitrogen atmosphere was added 70 mL (15.4 mmol) of the LiSEt solution and the resulting reaction mixture was heated in a 107° C. oil bath for 5 hr. The resulting yellow solution was concentrated under reduced pressure to remove most of the solvent and the yellow oil concentrate was distributed between 300 mL of ethyl acetate and 1N HCl (100 mL) to which 50 g of ice had been added. The ethyl acetate layer extract was washed with 4×25 mL portions of brine, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated to a foul-smelling yellow oil. The crude material was purified in portions by radial chromatography that employed 5% methanol in chloroform as the elution solvent. The appropriate fractions were combined, concentrated, and dried in vacuo to provide 265 mg (53%) of 1-[4-[2-(1-piperidinyl)ethoxy]-phenoxy]-2-(3-methoxyphenyl)-6-hydroxynapht-halene, as a grey foam.
