Step F: 2,4,6-trichloropyridine (3.0 g, 19 mmol) was suspended in anhydrous toluene (35 ml) and solid sodium methanol (3.6 g, 76 mmol) was added. The reaction mixture was heated and stirred under reflux conditions for 3 hours. After completion of the reaction, the mixture was filtered and the filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the solvent to afford 2.5 g of the colorless oily product 4-chloro-2,6-dimethoxypyridine (76% yield). Mass spectrometric analysis (APCI) showed m/z = 173.9 [M + H]+.
