12.96 kg of trimethylsulfoxonium iodide is dissolved in 180 l of dimethyl sulfoxide under nitrogen bubbling and vigorous stirring and at 25-30° C. 5.51 kg of potassium hydroxide is added to the solution. Stirring is continued for 1 hour, then 16.22 kg of 15α-acetoxy-3-methoxyandrosta-3,5-diene-17-one is added, the reaction mixture is stirred at 25-30° C. until the reaction is complete (about 6 hours). The solution is added slowly to 900 l of water, the precipitate obtained is stirred for 30 minutes until it is dense, filtered by centrifuge, washed with portions of water until is neutral and dried in vacuo to constant weight at a temperature below 40° C. and the crude tide compound is crystallized from methanol.
