Water → (Z)-5-Fluoro-3-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-methyl-1-(4-methylthiobenzylidene)indene

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Reaction Steps

To a solution of (Z)-5-fluoro-2-methyl-1-(4-methylthiobenzylidene)inden-3-ylacetic acid (1.70 g, 5 mmol) in THF (25 mL) at 0° C. and under nitrogen atmosphere, there was added a solution of borane (1M) in THF (5.5 mL, 5.5 mmol) and the mixture stirred in the cold for 30 minutes, then at room temperature for 2 hours. More borane was added (2.5 mL) and stirring was continued for 1 hour. Water was added slowly (20 mL), the THF was evaporated and the residue partitioned between water and ethyl acetate. The crude product from the organic phase was purified by chromatography on silica gel using a 1:2 mixture of ethyl acetate-hexane as eluent to afford the desired product (1.25 g) as a yellow oil which solidified on standing. This was triturated with hexane and filtered to yield the title compound as a yellow solid, mp 101-103° C.

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