The two diastereomers of 8 were not readily separable by chromatography; moreover, we were concerned about possible diastereomeric interconversion via keto-enol tautomeric equilibria. Thus, we proceeded to reduce ketone 8 to alcohol 9, which was obtained in excellent yield as a mixture of two diastereomers (dr 1:1), which were separable by column chromatography. The cis,cis-diastereomer of 9 was a crystalline solid, with the relative stereochemistry confirmed by X-ray crystallography (Scheme 1B). To our delight, cis,cis-9 exhibits a closed conformation, presumably due to the combined steric pressure exerted by the two equatorial methyl substituents. The nitroxide ring adopted a chair conformation, placing the alcohol functionality in an axial position.