Methyl acetoacetate → 6-Methyl-2-trifluoromethylpyrimidin-4-ol

To a solution of 2,2,2-trifluoroethanimidamide (3.02 g, 22.9 mmol) and 3-oxobutanoic acid, methyl ester (2.60 mL, 24.0 mmol) in methanol (25 mL) was added 25 wt % sodium methoxide (10.5 mL, 45.8 mmol). The reaction solution was stirred at room temperature overnight. The solvent was removed in vacuo and diluted with ethyl acetate and 5M HCl. The aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate once. The organic solutions were washed with brine, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated. The residue was purified by flash chromatography on a silica gel column to give the desired product as white solid.