2α,3α-Epoxy-5α-pregnan-20-one (360 mg) was dissolved in 80 mL of propanol and cooled to °C. and added to a cold 1.0 mL propanol solution containing 5-drops of concentrated sulfuric acid. This reaction mixture was stirred for 30 minutes at this temperature and an additional 30 minutes at room temperature, poured into a 20% sodium bicarbonate solution and washed several times with chloroform. The combined organic phase was dried over potassium carbonate and concentrated. Purification of the crude product on a silica gel column eluting with hexane/ethyl acetate (70:30) gave the titled compound (206 mg, 50% yield) as white crystals.
