Sodium hydroxide (600 mg, 15 mmol) was added as 3-[(4,4,4-trifluoro-3-oxo-1-butenyl)amino]-2-propenenitrile (mixture of IIa and IIb, 1.90 g, 10 mmol) and methanol (15 mL). The reaction mixture was heated to reflux for 6 hours. After completion of the reaction, the mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure. The resulting residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography with hexane/acetone (1:1, v/v) as eluent to afford 4-(trifluoromethyl)nicotinamide (1.25 g, 65.6% yield). The product was characterized by 1H-NMR (200 MHz, DMSO-d6): δ 8.89 (1H, d, J = 5.1 Hz), 8.82 (1H, s), 8.18 (1H, brs), 7.85 (1H, brs), 7.81 (1H, d, J = 5.1 Hz).