Chemical Properties
A pyrimidine has many properties in common with pyridine, as the number of nitrogen atoms in the ring increases the ring pi electrons become less energetic and electrophilic aromatic substitution gets more difficult while nucleophilic aromatic substitution gets easier. An example of the last reaction type is the displacement of the amino group in 2-aminopyrimidine by chlorine and its reverse. Reduction in resonance stabilization of pyrimidines may lead to addition and ring cleavage reactions rather than substitutions. One such manifestation is observed in the Dimroth rearrangement.
Compared to pyridine, N-alkylation and N-oxidation is more difficult, and pyrimidines are also less basic: The pKa value for protonated pyrimidine is 1.23 compared to 5.30 for pyridine.
Pyrimidine is also found in meteorites, but scientists still do not know its origin. Pyrimidine also photolytically decomposes into uracil under UV light.
Read more about this topic: Pyrimidine
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