Hydrochloric Acid → 6-(Hydroxymethyl)pyridin-3-ol hydrochloride

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Reaction Steps

220.0 g of the above ester is added to 2,200 ml of 6 N-hydrochloric acid and the resulting solution is refluxed for 18 hours. Then, the solution is evaporated to leave an oily viscous residue. This residue is digested with ethyl methyl ketone to yield 5-hydroxy-2-pyridinemethanol hydrochloride melting at 122°-123°. (The corresponding free base is prepared by adding a saturated solution of potassium carbonate to the hydrochloride, extracting the resulting suspension with chloroform, drying the chloroform extract over sodium sulfate, filtering and evaporating the filtrate to yield the free base.)

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