To a cooled suspension (0° C.) of 1-(2-chloro-9,10-dihydro-9,10-methanoanthracen-9-ylcarbonyl)piperidin-4-ol (described in example 1k) (6.95 g, 19.6 mmol) in diethyl ether (200 mL) under nitrogen was added lithium aluminum hydride (1.49 g, 39.2 mmol, 8 eq of hydride) in portions. The suspension was stirred at 0° C. for 30 min and warmed to room temperature. After 18 h at room temperature, the excess reagent was carefully quenched with the following in sequence: water (1.5 mL), 2.5N NaOH (1.5 mL) and additional water (4.5 mL). The suspension was stirred vigorously until the aluminum salts became a granular white solid. The suspension was diluted with ethyl acetate (100 mL), dried with a small amount of anhydrous magnesium sulfate and filtered. The filter cake was rinsed thoroughly with ethyl acetate. The solvent was removed to yield 6.16 g (92%) of the title compound as a white solid. No additional purification was required. TLC analysis (Rf 0.15, 50% ethyl acetate in hexane). 1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz) 7.20 (m, 4H), 6.95 (m, 3H), 4.60 (s, 1H), 4.24 (s, 1H), 3.70 (m 1H), 3.34 (s, 2H), 2.88 (m, 2H), 2.58 (s, 2H), 2.37 (m, 2H), 1.85 (m, 2H), 1.57 (m, 2H) MS (CI, CH4) m/z 340 (M+1,98), 342 (33), 322 (100), 368 (M+29, 22), 114 (26).
