Water → Tert-butyl 2-(3-pyridyloxy)acetate

To a suspension of 0.22 g of sodium hydride (60% oil dispersion, 5.5 mmol) in 2 mL of DMF was added dropwise a solution of 0.48 g of 3-hydroxypyridine (5.0 mmol) in 2 mL of DMF at room temperature, and the mixture was stirred for an hour. The resulting brown solution was ice-cooled, 0.81 mL of tert-butyl bromoacetate (5.5 mmol) was added, and the mixture was stirred under ice-cooling for an hour followed by stirring at room temperature for 2 hours. After addition of water, the mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer was washed with saturated brine, dried and evaporated. The residue was purified by column chromatography on silica gel (eluent: chloroform:ethyl acetate=5:1), to give 0.34 g of tert-butyl 3-pyridyloxyacetate (Yield: 32.5%) as a clear oil.