Efficient Synthesis of Pyridin‐2(1H)‐ones From a Series of Readily Available Enaminones Under Mild Conditions

A facile and efficient synthesis of substituted pyridin-2(1H)-ones has been developed by the reaction of readily available enaminones with malononitrile in ethanol at room temperature in yields of 85-95%. This protocol, which combines construction and modification of the pyridin-2(1H)-ones ring under Vilsmeier conditions (dimethylformamide/POCl3), increases the structural diversity of the final products from readily available materials.