Potassium tert -butoxide promoted regioselective deuteration of pyridines.

A regioselective deuteration at the β- and γ-position of pyridines is reported. Efficient deuteration occurred with a combination of KO t Bu and DMSO- d 6 , replenishing the prevailing α-deuteration of the pyridine systems. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggested that the dimsyl carbanion acts as one of the key intermediates.