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Positional isomerisation of pyridine via nitrogen transposition
Nature
(2026) Cite this article
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Positional isomers of pyridines often display distinct biological activities1,2 yet their direct interconversion remains largely inaccessible, so each isomer is typically prepared through an independent synthesis. Here we report a general strategy for pyridine positional isomerization enabled by controlled reorganization of the heteroaromatic core through sequential nitrogen insertion and deletion. N-atom transposition allows predictable translocation of preinstalled substituents without altering substituent identity. The method is broadly applicable to mono-, di-, and multisubstituted pyridines and operates across structurally complex molecular environments, providing direct access to positional isomers. This work establishes positional isomerization as a practical synthetic transformation, defining pyridine substitution patterns as mutable variables in retrosynthetic design.
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These authors contributed equally: Hyewon Ju, Jiyong Park
Center for Catalytic Hydrocarbon Functionalizations, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon, Korea
Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Korea