A Practical and Enantiospecific Synthesis of (−)‐(R)‐ and (+)‐(S)‐Piperidin‐3‐ols

Abstract A highly enantiospecific, azide‐free synthesis of (−)‐( R )‐ and (+)‐( S )‐piperidin‐3‐ol in excellent yield was developed. The key step of the synthesis involves the enantiospecific ring openings of enantiomerically pure ( R )‐ and ( S )‐2‐(oxiran‐2‐ylmethyl)‐1 H ‐isoindole‐1,3(2 H )‐diones with the diethyl malonate anion and subsequent decarboxylation.