Pempidine is a ganglion-blocking drug, first reported in 1958 by two research groups working independently, and introduced as an oral treatment for hypertension.

[2][3] The Spinks group, at ICI, compared pempidine, its N-ethyl analogue, and mecamylamine in considerable detail, with additional data related to several structurally simpler compounds.

[2] Pempidine is an aliphatic, sterically hindered, cyclic, tertiary amine, which is a weak base: in its protonated form it has a pKa of 11.25.

[4] These are very similar in principle: Leonard and Hauck reacted phorone with ammonia, to produce 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidone, which was then reduced by means of the Wolff–Kishner reduction to 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine.

[6] Hall's method involved reacting acetone with ammonia in the presence of calcium chloride to give 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidone, which was then reduced under Wolff–Kishner conditions, followed by N-methylation of the resulting 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine with methyl p-toluenesulfonate.