Process Development of 4-[N-Methyl-N-(tetrahydropyran-4-yl)aminomethyl]aniline Dihydrochloride: A Key Intermediate for TAK-779, a Small-Molecule Nonpeptide CCR5 Antagonist

A new and efficient synthesis of 4-[N-methyl-N-(tetrahydropyran-4-yl)aminomethyl]aniline dihydrochloride, a key intermediate for the CCR5 antagonist TAK-779, is described. Reductive alkylation of methylamine with tetrahydro-4H-pyran-4-one followed by alkylation of N-methyl-N-(tetrahydropyran-4-yl)amine with 4-nitrobenzylbromide and reduction of N-(4-nitrobenzyl)-N-(tetrahydropyran-4-yl)amine results in a 78% isolated yield from the starting materials by a scalable method, using only commercially available reagents.