General procedure for the synthesis of 3-methyl-2-pyridinecarboxamide from 2-cyano-3-methylpyridine: 2-cyano-3-methylpyridine (2.36 g, 20 mmol) was mixed with concentrated sulfuric acid (12.5 mL), and stirred for 25 min at 80 °C. Upon completion of the reaction, the solution was cooled to room temperature and slowly poured into water (80 mL), which was subsequently neutralized by the addition of saturated aqueous sodium carbonate solution. The reaction mixture was extracted with dichloromethane (3 x 80 mL), the organic layers were combined and dried with anhydrous magnesium sulfate. The organic layer was concentrated under reduced pressure to afford 3-methyl-2-pyridinecarboxamide as a white solid (2.65 g, 97% yield). The product was characterized by 1H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz): δ 8.43 (dd, 1H), 7.93 (brs, 1H), 7.62 (dd, 1H), 7.35 (dd, 1H), 5.44 (brs, 1H), 2.76 (s, 3H).
