Let
C=[B,A] and suppose
AC=CA. Then
C is
nilpotent. For the derivation
D(X)=[B,X], one has
D(p(A))=p′(A)C. If
f(A)=0, induction gives
Indeed, if
uCm=Cmu=0, differentiating
uCm=0 and multiplying on the left by
Cm gives
CmD(u)Cm=0; for
u=f(k)(A) this replaces
m by
2m+1. Taking
k=degf makes
f(k) a nonzero constant and proves nilpotence.