An application of borane as a protecting group for pyridine.

Efforts to couple 4 with 12 employing base mediation are problematic due to the formation of 6. To circumvent this issue, 12 was converted to the pyridine borane complex (13). Alkylation of 4 with 13 provided 3 after removal of the borane under acidic conditions and saponification of the ester.