It is a hydroxylated derivative of the heterocyclic compound piperidine.

N-Hydroxypiperidine can be prepared from the application of meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid and methanol to the tertiary amine product of acrylonitrile and piperidine, followed by heating with acetone of the resulting tertiary N-oxide.

[1] N-Hydroxypiperidine is a secondary amine, which can undergo an oxidation reaction with hydrogen peroxide in methanol as the solvent.

This produces a nitrone, which is heteroatomic equivalent to a ketone with a nitrogen instead of an alpha carbon.

Competing elimination reactions can occur, as well.