Convenient approaches to 4-trifluoromethylpyridine

A number of approaches to the synthesis of 2-chloro- and 2,6-dichloro-4-trifluoromethylpyridine are described. The first method for 2-chloro- and 2,6-dichloro-4-trifluoromethylpyridine is based on commercially available ethyl trifluoroacetate. An alternative access to 2,6-dichloro-4-trifluoromethyl pyridine uses trifluoroacetaldehyde as starting material. 2-Chloro-4-trifluoromethylpyridine is prepared from ethyl(trifluoroacetylvinyl)-ether in two steps.