A 1-l., three-necked flask is fitted with an acetone-dry ice condenser, a glass stirrer, and a glass stopper (Note 1). Potassium amide is prepared in 400 ml. of liquid ammonia with 8.0 g. (0.20 g.-atom) of potassium metal (Note 2). The glass stopper is replaced with an addition funnel containing 32.1 g. (0.300 mole) (Note 3) of 2,6-lutidine dissolved in ca. 20 ml. of anhydrous diethyl ether. The lutidine solution is added. to the amide solution, and the funnel is rinsed with a little ether, which is also added. The resulting orange potassiolutidine solution is stirred for 30 minutes, then cooled in an acetone–dry-ice bath (Note 3). As rapidly as possible, 11.8 g. (0.100 mole) of freshly distilled diethyl carbonate is added, the cooling bath is removed, and the solution changes to a green color. After 5 minutes the reaction mixture is neutralized by the addition of 10.7 g. (0.200 mole) of ammonium chloride. The green color is discharged; the final mixture is gray. The condenser is removed, and the ammonia is allowed to evaporate (Note 4). The residue is stirred with 500 ml. of ether, filtered, and extracted with an additional 100 ml. of ether. The combined ethereal extracts are concentrated with a rotary evaporator, and the residual oil is distilled using a modified Claisen flask. 2,6-Lutidine (22 g., 69%) is collected at 46–56° (10 mm.), and 10.7–13.4 g. (59–75%) of the ester is collected at 87° (0.7 mm.) as a bright yellow liquid, n²⁵D 1.4995, d²⁰4 1.0608 (Note 5).