Functionalized N-alkyl-2-pyridones and 2-aminopyridines are useful precursors for the synthesis of various heterocyclic compounds of therapeutic importance. In this paper we have delineated and illustrated a direct methodology for the synthesis of 6-aryl-N-hydroxyethyl-4-methylsulfanyl-2-pyridones through the ring transformation of 6-aryl-3-cyano-4-methylsulfanyl-2H-pyran-2-ones by ethanolamine. Surprisingly, the analogous reaction with 6-aryl-3-cyano-4-piperidin-1-yl-2H-pyran-2-ones afforded 2-aminopyridines in high yield instead of the corresponding 2-pyridones.Substituted N-alkyl-2-pyridones and 2-aminopyridines in a flexible or rigid conformation are common structural features found in many biologically important synthetic and natural products. 2 Molecules embedded with these scaffolds are known to exhibit diverse pharmacological activities as neuropeptide Y1 receptor antagonists, 3 muscle relaxants, 4 antitumor, 5 antifungal, 6 and antiviral 7 activities, free radical scavenging, 8 hypotensive, 9 and cardiotropic 10 activities, and inactivation of voltage-dependent K + channels. 11 From a chemical perspective, several dialkylaminopyridines such as DMAP, 4-pyrrolidinopyridine (PPY) and their analogues have been extensively used as catalysts in acylation and alkylation 12 reactions. In addition, 2-aminopyridines and 2-pyridinones are key intermediates in the synthesis of a variety of heterocyclic compounds of therapeutic importance. 13In general, the alkylation of 2-pyridone leads to both Nand O-alkylated product and the regioselectivity depends on the nature of the base, the structure of the alkyl halide, substituents on the pyridone ring, and the solvent employed. 14 Selective N-alkylation of 2-pyridone predominates in the presence of sodium salts but an increase in the size of alkyl halide favors O-alkylation. Numerous synthetic methodologies are available for the synthesis of 2-pyridones 15-22 but the methods for direct access to Nalkyl-2-pyridones are rare. Similarly, various approaches are known in the literature for the synthesis of aminopyridines. [23][24][25] Recently, we reported a regioselective approach to access 2-pyridones and 2-aminopyridines through nucleophile-induced ring transformation of 2H-pyran-2-ones using urea as the nucleophilic source. 26Though palladium-catalyzed amination has been shown 27,28 to be of immense value as an alternative approach to preparing aminopyridines, the applicability of several of these methods suffers from a lack of generality, intolerance of many functional groups, or incompatibility with ring or N-alkyl chain substitution. Due to the difficulty in selective N-alkylation of 2-pyridone and the limitations of existing methodologies, we sought to develop a general synthetic route, which could directly provide Nalkylated pyridones and 2-aminopyridines. Herein, we report a one-pot synthesis of N-hydroxyethyl-2-pyridones and 2-aminopyridines through nucleophile-induced ring transformation of 2H-pyran-2-ones by ethanolamine.The 2H-pyran-2-ones 1a-e used as parent pre...