Two new approaches for the synthesis of natural product piperodione, secondary metabolite have been achieved. Hitherto, unknown and easily accessible piperidine and morpholine based α-ketoamide phosphoranes obtained from pyruvic acid have served as key building blocks for synthesis based on Wittig reaction. The alkylation of β-keto esters with 3-bromo derivative of pyruvic acid amides has been equally successful. Both the developed routes have enabled access to several new analogues of piperodione, opening up opportunities for systematic structure activity relationships studies during evaluation of biological activity. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim