Cobalt‐Catalyzed C4‐Selective Direct Alkylation of Pyridines

How pyridine got its tail: A new catalyst for the atom-economical C4-selective direct alkylation of pyridines is described. A combination of CoBr2 and LiBEt3H catalyzes the reaction of pyridines with 1-alkenes at 70 °C to give alkylation products with C4/C2 ratios of >20:1. Substrate/catalyst ratios of up to 4000, and a turnover number of 3440 were achieved.