A short, scalable and environmentally benignsynthesis of 2- and 4-substitutedbenzylpiperidines has been developed. The method is based on the temperature-programmed consecutive deoxygenation and heteroaromatic ring saturation of aryl(pyridin-2-yl)- and aryl(pyridin-4-yl)methanols and aryl(pyridin-4-yl)methanones in the presence of Pd/C catalyst. The crucial roles of the temperature, the acidity and