To a mixture of 2,3,5,6-tetrachloropyridine (10 g), 1-Boc-piperazine (8.6 g) and potassium carbonate (13 g) was added 2-butanone (140 mL), and the mixture was refluxed for 8 hr. After cooling, water was added to the reaction mixture, and the mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer was washed with saturated brine, and the solvent was evaporated to give 4-(3,5,6-trichloropyridin-2-yl)piperazine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (17 g). To a mixture of 4-(3,5,6-trichloropyridin-2-yl)piperazine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (17 g), palladium (II) acetate (516 mg), 2-dicyclohexylphosphino-2′,6′-dimethoxybiphenyl (1.9 g), potassium fluoride (24 g) and methylboronic acid (12 g) was added tetrahydrofuran (140 mL), and the mixture was refluxed for 8 hr. After cooling, the mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer was washed with saturated brine, and the solvent was evaporated. The residue was purified by column chromatography (hexane:ethyl acetate) to give 4-(3,5,6-trimethylpyridin-2-yl)piperazine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (14 g). 4-(3,5,6-Trimethylpyridin-2-yl)piperazine-1-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester (14 g) was dissolved in chloroform (28 mL), 4N hydrogen chloride/ethyl acetate (25 mL) was added, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. Ethyl acetate (100 mL) was added, and the mixture was filtered to give the title compound (11 g).
