To confirm the structure of a polysubstituted pyridine ring contained in piericidin A (I), a model compound, 4-hydroxy-6-hydroxymethyl-2, 3-dimethoxypiridine (IV) was syn-thesized starting from 2-bromo-6-hydroxymethyl-3-methoxy-4-oxo-(4H)-pyran (V). Ultra-violet spectra of octahydropiericidin A (II) and Acid II (III) derived from I were almost identical with that of IV and the pyridine ring in I was finally proved to be 4-hydroxy-2, 3-dimethoxy-5-methylpyridine.
