Two new ligands for carbonic anhydrase mimicry

The syntheses of tris(2-nicotinic acid)methanol methyl ether 5 and tris(2-picolinic acid)methanol methyl ether 6, two tridentate ligands designed to also act as scaffolds for constructing chiral environments around their metal binding sites, is described. Improved yields for the essential lithiation–alkylation reactions that generate the trispyridyl core of these types of ligands are reported.