General procedure: 2,4-dichloro-6-methylpyrimidine (3.0 g, 18.4 mmol), cesium carbonate (Cs2CO3, 6.6 g, 20.2 mmol) and ethanol (EtOH, 46 mL) were added to a reaction flask, and the mixture was stirred under reflux conditions for 48 hours. After completion of the reaction, the solid insoluble material was removed by filtration and the filtrate was purified by column chromatography to afford the target product 2-chloro-4-ethoxy-6-methylpyrimidine (1.88 g, 59% yield). The structure of the product was confirmed by 1H-NMR (CDCl3): δ6.47 (1H, s), 4.41 (2H, q), 2.42 (3H, s), 1.39 (3H, t).
