It can be prepared in two different ways both starting from 21-acetoxy-6alpha-chlorohydrocortisone (I): 1) Dehydrogenation of (I) with chloranil in refluxing n-amyl alcohol to give 21-acetate of Cloprednol (II), which is hydrolyzed with sodium methoxide in methanol. 2) Dehydrogenation of (I) with chloranil in refluxing xylene to give 21-acetoxy-11beta,17alpha-dihydroxy-pregna-4,6-diene-3,20-dione (III), which is dehydrogenated again with chloranil in refluxing n-amyl alcohol to the acetate (II), and finally hydrolyzed as before.