28.1 g of copper(II) bromide and 5.4 g of lithium bromide in 105 ml of anhydrous acetonitrile are added to 25.2 g of 7α-(6-chlorohexyl)-11β-fluor-estr-4-ene-3,17-dione in 175 ml of anhydrous acetonitrile at 80° C. After 15 minutes, the reaction mixture is cooled to 0° C., and 250 ml of saturated sodium bicarbonate solution is added in drops. Then, the solution is stirred into 1 liter of water, brought to pH=6 with 2N hydrochloric acid, extracted 3 times with ethyl acetate, washed with common salt solution, dried on magnesium sulfate and concentrated by evaporation in a vacuum. Chromatography of the crude product on silica gel with a hexane-ethyl acetate gradient yields 5.7 g of 7α-(6-chlorohexyl)-11β-fluoro-3-hydroxy-estra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-one as a foam.
