“…If deprotection were to occur first, the diequatorial conformer 38 , liberated from A(1,3) strain, would be expected as the stable intermediate. In this case, and as already observed with similar nonfluorinated systems,12b,22 an axial hydride attack should predominate, mostly giving the cis , cis ‐piperidinol 37 . The inversion of the sequence should entail an equatorial hydride attack on ketone 36 , due to significant steric hindrance, but still leading after deprotection of the intermediate 39 to the same all ‐ cis reaction product 37 .…”