To a solution of 4-[(2-Methoxycarbonyl-5-phenyl-thiophen-3-yl)-(4-methyl-cyclohexanecarbonyl)-amino]-piperidine-1-carboxylic acid benzyl ester (506 mg, 0.88 mmol) in a 6:1 mixture of ethyl acetate and methanol (7 ml) was added the 10% palladium on charcoal (103 mg, 0.097 mmol). The resulting reaction mixture was placed under H2 atmosphere (25 psi), stirred at room temperature for 3 days, and then filtered on celite and evaporated to dryness. The crude product was purified by flash chromatography (100/90/16/1 CH2Cl2/CHCl3/MeOH/Et3N) to give 287 mg (74%) of 3-[(4-Methyl-cyclohexanecarbonyl)-piperidin-4-yl-amino]-5-phenyl-thiophene-2-carboxylic acid methyl ester.
