Straightforward synthesis of orthogonally protected piperidin-3-ylmethanamine and piperidin-4-ylmethanamine derivatives

The 1,3- and 1,4-disubstituted piperidines are important building blocks in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. We present the synthesis of orthogonally protected piperidin-3-ylmethanamine and piperidin-4-ylmethanamine derivatives from commercially available nipecotamide, isonipecotamide, nipecotic acid and isonipecotic acid. This is a straightforward two-step procedure that gives high overall yields. Purification of the intermediates using this procedure is not necessary, and the final compounds are purified by simple flash column chromatography.