Step A: Preparation of 4-chloronicotinamide: 4-chloronicotinic acid (10.00 g, 63.47 mmol) was mixed with SOCl2 (46.30 mL, 634.7 mmol) and heated and refluxed for 4 hours. Upon completion of the reaction, excess SOCl2 was removed by rotary evaporation. toluene (25 mL) was added to the residue and toluene was again removed by rotary evaporation. The resulting oily product was slowly poured into pre-cooled 25 mL of concentrated NH4OH (0 °C). After precipitating the solid, the product was collected by filtration to give 2.7 g of 4-chloronicotinamide in 27.6% yield.
