Improved Synthesis of 2‐Chloro‐3‐amino‐4‐methylpyridine

2‐Chloro‐3‐amino‐4‐methylpyridine ( 1 ), a key intermediate in the synthesis of nervirapine, was prepared from 2‐cyanoacetamide and 4,4‐dimethoxyl‐2‐butanone via condensation, cyclization, one‐pot reaction of chlorination and hydrolysis, and Hofmann reaction. Utilization of the quadratic orthogonal test resulted in a high yield (62.1%) of the whole process.