A high-yielding method and a useful intermediate, 10-chloro-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide (VII) is disclosed. Also disclosed are methods for the racemization of optically pure or optically enriched mixtures of (S)-(+)-10,11-dihydro-10-hydroxy-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide (I) and (R)-(-)-10,11-dihydro-10-hydroxy-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide (II) to racemic (.+-.)-10,11-dihydro-10-hydroxy-5H-dibenz/b,f/azepine-5-carboxamide (III).