2 place upon stirring la in 25% dioxane/aqueous phosphate buffer (pH 7.5-8.0) for 7 days; under these conditions, unchanged starting material was recovered in 80% yield. Analogous transformations of 3-methyl-2-nitrosopyidine (lb) and 4-methyl-2-nitrosopyridine (IC) to 2b and 2c, respectively, proceeded more slowly. For example, no reaction was observed upon stirring aqueous suspensions of lb and IC in water for 15 days at room temperature. ...