TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The solvent is water, an aromatic hydrocarbon (including benzene, toluene, xylene, methylbenzene and dimethylbenzene), an alkanol (including methanol, ethanol, 1-butanol and isopropanol), a ketone (including 2-propanone, 4-methyl-2-pentanone and acetone), an ether (including diethyl ether, dimethyl ether, isopropyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, 1,4-dioxane and 1,1'-oxybisethane), an ether ethyl acetate and methyl acetate, a dipolar aprotic solvent (including N,N-dimethylformamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, nitrobenzene and 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone), a halogenated hydrocarbon (including dichloromethane, 1,2-dichloroethane and trichloromethane), a nitrile (including acetonitrile and propionitrile), and/or carboxylic acids (including acetic acid and propanoic acid). The base is an alkali or an earth alkaline metal carbonate, hydrogen carbonate, alkoxide, hydride, amide, hydroxide, acetate or oxide (e.g. sodium carbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, potassium carbonate, sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, potassium tert-butoxide, sodium hydride, sodium amide, sodium hydroxide, sodium acetate, calcium carbonate, calcium hydroxide and calcium oxide), alkali metal iodide, such as sodium iodide and potassium iodide, and/or an organic base, such as an amine (e.g. N,N-diethylethanamine, N,N-(1-methylethyl)-2-propanamine, triethylamine, diethylamine, 4-ethylmorpholine, pyridine, morpholin and piperidine). ACTIVITY - Cytostatic.    MECHANISM OF ACTION - None given.    EXAMPLE - 1.68 g of (7S)-3,17-Dihydroxy-13-methyl-7-(9-(4,4,5,5,5-pentafluoropentylsulfanyl)nonyl)-8,9,11,12,14,15,16,17-octahydro-7H-cyclopenta(a)phenanthren-6-one was added to 20 ml of ethyl acetate followed by addition of 1.04 g of acetic acid and 785 mu l of 17% aqueous hydrogen peroxide. The reaction was maintained for overnight. The reaction mass was quenched with ice and the product was extracted with ethyl acetate. The obtained crude product was purified by column chromatography to give approximately 1.2 g of (7S)-3,17-dihydroxy-13-methyl-7-(9-(4,4,5,5,5-pentafluoropentylsulfinyl)nonyl)-8,9,11,12,14,15,16,17-octahydro-7H-cyclopenta(a)phenanthren-6-one. 12.5 g of (7S)-3,17-Dihydroxy-13-methyl-7-(9-(4,4,5,5,5-pentafluoropentylsulfinyl)nonyl)-8,9,11,12,14,15,16,17-octahydro-7H-cyclopenta(a)phenanthren-6-one was added to 200 ml of toluene to obtain a solution. The temperature of solution was raised up to 75 degrees C and maintained for 15 minutes followed by cooling to room temperature (30 plus minus 5 degrees C). The product was filtered and washed with 20 ml of hexane, and worked up to give (7S,13S,17S)-3,17-dihydroxy-13-methyl-7-(9-(4,4,5,5,5-pentafluoropentylsulfinyl)nonyl)-8,9,11,12,14,15,16,17-octahydro-7H-cyclopenta(a)phenanthren-6-one.