A mixture of 10 g of 4-methoxy-3,5-dimethylbenzenamine hydrochloride, 19.9 g of N,N-bis(2-chloroethyl)-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide, 16.8 g of sodium carbonate, 0.5 g of potassium iodide and 100 ml of cyclohexanol was stirred overnight at 150°-160° C. After cooling, the reaction mixture was poured into water. The product was extracted with dichloromethane. The extract was washed with water, dried, filtered and evaporated. The residue was purified by column-chromatography over silica gel using trichloromethane as eluent. The pure fractions were collected and the solvent was evaporated. The residue was crystallized from 1-butanol, yielding 10 g (50.4%) of 4-(4-methoxy-3,5-dimethylphenyl)-1-[(4-methylphenyl)sulfonyl]piperazine; mp. 174.2° C. (interm. 42).
