A series of 3-hydroxy-2-methyl-4(1H)-pyridinones has been prepared with the substituents H, CH3, n-C6HII, and CH2CH2NH2 at the ring N. The dipyridinone 1,6-bis(3-hydroxy-2-methyl-4( 1 H)-pyridinn 1yl)hexane has also been synthesized. The products with H and CH3 substituents have been studied by single crystal X-5ay diffraction. Crystals of 3-hydroxy-2-methyl-4-pyridinone are monoclinic, a = 6.835 1(4), b = 10.2249(4), c = 8.6525(4) A, P = 105.215(4)", Z = 4, space group P21 n and those of 3-hydroxy-l,2-dimethyl-4-pyridinone are orthorhombic, a = 7.3036(4), b = 13.0490(6), c = 13.7681(7) 9' , Z = 8, space group Pbca. Both structures were solved by direct methods and were refined by full-matrix least-squares procedures to R = 0.037 and 0.044 for 914 and 857 reflections with I 2 3 a ( I ) , respectively. Bond lengths and angles in the two compounds were normal. All the compounds have been studied by mass spectrometry, and by infrared and proton nmr spectroscopies. The importance of hydrogen bonding to both the solution and solid state properties of these compounds has been confirmed by these techniques. Introduction There is considerable literature on 4-pyridinones (1) but a limited amount of information is available on the 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinones. Much of the preparative work on the latter is scattered and inaccessible, having been reported in the form of patents, and we discovered when we became interested in them, that a considerable effort was required before we had the requisite compounds for further study.As part of a project to examine neutral water soluble complexes of aluminum, gallium, and other metals, we have prepared and characterized a series of N-substituted-3-hydroxy-2-methyl-4-pyridinones (1) to be used as ligands for these metals in aqueous solution. Recently, there has been significant interest in these compounds, and the related pyrones (e.g. malt01 2), as binding groups for various' metal ions. This