The Kröhnke synthesis for making pyridines possesses a number of succinct advantages over other methods. Unlike the Hantzsch synthesis, the Kröhnke method does not require oxidation to generate the desired product since the α-pyridinium methyl ketone already possesses the correct oxidation state.
Another advantage of the Kröhnke synthesis is its high atom economy. For example, the Chichibabin synthesis requires 2 equivalents of unsaturated starting material. Additionally, the byproducts of the Kröhnke synthesis is water and pyridine, which allow for easy workup and purification protocols. Unlike comparable methods for pyridine synthesis, the Kröhkne synthesis benefits from being a high-yielding one pot synthesis, which ultimately allows for abbreviation of synthetic pathways and further simplifies combinatorial library cataloging.