Patent ID: 7279583

Claim:
A process for the industrial synthesis of perindopril of formula (I) and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, wherein a benzyl ester of formula (IIa) or (IIb): or an addition salt of the ester of formula (IIa) or (IIb) with a mineral acid or organic acid, is reacted with a compound of formula (III): in the presence of a coupling agent selected from: 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethyl-carbodiimide hydrochloride/1-hydroxybenzotriazole and propanephosphonic anhydride, optionally in the presence of a base, to yield, after catalytic hydrogenation in the presence of palladium, perindopril of formula (I), which is converted, if desired, into a pharmaceutically acceptable salt.