To a slurry of 0.54 g of lithium aluminum hydride in ether is added a solution of 3,4-dihydro-2-[[4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl]methyl]-1(2H)-naphthalenone (5.0 g, prepared as described in Example 1A) in 150 ml of warm ether. The resulting mixture is refluxed under a nitrogen atmosphere for 3 hours, cooled in ice, and treated (in order) with 0.55 ml of water, 0.55 ml of 15% sodium hydroxide solution and 1.65 ml of water. This mixture is stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes and the inorganic precipitates removed by filtration. The ether solution is dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, concentrated in vacuo, and triturated with 1:1 hexane-ether to yield 4.8 g of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2-[[4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl]methyl]-1-naphthalenol. One crystallization of this material from cyclohexane yields the trans isomer in pure form as determined by NMR and thin layer chromatography analysis.
