Patent ID: 6958400

Claim:
A process for preparing a 4-(secondary or tertiary)aminopyridine, comprising: reacting a 4-substituted pyridine base having a leaving group as the 4-substituent, with an activating agent of the formula: wherein R 3 and R 4 , which may be the same as or may differ from one another, are each —H or a C 1 -C 4 alkyl group, and Z is —OR 7 or NR 5 R 6 , wherein R 5 and R 6 , which may be the same as or may differ from one another, and may taken together form a ring, are each —H or C 1 -C 8 alkyl; and R 7 is —H or C 1 -C 8 alkyl; so as to form a corresponding 1,4-substituted pyridine; reacting said 1,4-substituted pyridine with a primary or secondary amine to substitute an amino group for the leaving group at the 4-position, and thereby form a corresponding 1-substituted-4-(secondary or tertiary) aminopyridine, wherein said amine is included in a molar ratio of at least about 2:1 relative to the 1,4-substituted pyridine and said reacting is conducted in a substitution reaction medium essentially free from strong base; and treating the 1-substituted-4-aminopyridine compound to remove the 1-substituent and thereby form a product medium including the 4-(secondary or tertiary) amino-pyridine.