Electrophilic Substitution of Pyridine
Pyridine is a modest base (pK_a=5.2). Since the basic unshared electron pair is not part of the aromatic sextet, as in pyrrole, pyridinium species produced by N-substitution retain the aromaticity of pyridine. As shown below, N-alkylation and N-acylation products may be prepared as stable crystalline solids in the absence of water or other reactive nucleophiles. The N-acyl salts may serve as acyl transfer agents for the preparation of esters and amides. Because of the stability of the pyridinium cation, it has been used as a moderating component in complexes with a number of reactive inorganic compounds. Several examples of these stable and easily handled reagents are shown at the bottom of the diagram. The poly(hydrogen fluoride) salt is a convenient source of HF for addition to alkenes and conversion of alcohols to alkyl fluorides, pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC) and its related dichromate analog are versatile oxidation agents and the tribromide salt is a convenient source of bromine. Similarly, the reactive compounds sulfur trioxide and diborane are conveniently and safely handled as pyridine complexes.
Amine oxide derivatives of 3º-amines and pyridine are readily prepared by oxidation with peracids or peroxides, as shown by the upper right equation. Reduction back to the amine can usually be achieved by treatment with zinc (or other reactive metals) in dilute acid.

From the previous resonance description of pyridine, we expect this aromatic amine to undergo electrophilic substitution reactions far less easily than does benzene. Furthermore, as depicted above by clicking on the diagram, the electrophilic reagents and catalysts employed in these reactions coordinate with the nitrogen electron pair, exacerbating the positive charge at positions 2,4 & 6 of the pyridine ring. Three examples of the extreme conditions required for electrophilic substitution are shown on the left. Substituents that block electrophile coordination with nitrogen or reduce the basicity of the nitrogen facilitate substitution, as demonstrated by the examples in the blue-shaded box at the lower right, but substitution at C-3 remains dominant. Activating substituents at other locations also influence the ease and regioselectivity of substitution. By clicking on the diagram a second time, three examples will shown on the left. The amine substituent in the upper case directs the substitution to C-2, but the weaker electron donating methyl substituent in the middle example cannot overcome the tendency for 3-substitution. Hydroxyl substituents at C-2 and C-4 tautomerize to pyridones, as shown for the 2-isomer at the bottom left.
Pyridine N-oxide undergoes some electrophilic substitutions at C-4 and others at C-3. The coordinate covalent N–O bond may exert a push-pull influence, as illustrated by the two examples on the right. Although the positively charged nitrogen alone would have a strong deactivating influence, the negatively charged oxygen can introduce electron density at C-2, C-4 & C-6 by π-bonding to the ring nitrogen. This is a controlling factor in the relatively facile nitration at C-4. However, if the oxygen is bonded to an electrophile such as SO₃, the resulting pyridinium ion will react sluggishly and preferentially at C-3.

The fused ring heterocycles quinoline and isoquinoline provide additional evidence for the stability of the pyridine ring. Vigorous permanganate oxidation of quinoline results in predominant attack on the benzene ring; isoquinoline yields products from cleavage of both rings. Note that naphthalene is oxidized to phthalic acid in a similar manner. By contrast, the heterocyclic ring in both compounds undergoes preferential catalytic hydrogenation to yield tetrahydroproducts. Electrophilic nitration, halogenation and sulfonation generally take place at C-5 and C-8 of the benzene ring, in agreement with the preceding description of similar pyridine reactions and the kinetically favored substitution of naphthalene at C-1 (α) rather than C-2 (β).