Abstract
A facile synthetic approach to 2‐amino‐5‐halogen‐pyrimidine‐4‐carboxylic acids from 5‐halogen‐2‐methylsulfonylpyrimidine‐4‐carboxylic acid by nucleophilic displacement of the methylsulfonyl group with primary and secondary aliphatic amines has been developed. The titled amino acids underwent decarboxylation, yielding 2‐amino‐5‐halogenpyrimidines. Starting from 2‐amino‐5‐chloropyrimidine‐4‐carboxylic acid chlorides, 2‐[5‐chloro‐2‐(amino)‐4‐pyrimidinyl]‐2‐oxo‐1‐(2‐pyridyl)‐ethyl cyanides were obtained in excellent yields.