Because of the electronegative nitrogen in the pyridine ring, pyridine enters less readily into electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions than benzene derivatives. Instead, in terms of its reactivity, pyridine resembles nitrobenzene.
Correspondingly pyridine is more prone to nucleophilic substitution, as evidenced by the ease of metalation by strong organometallic bases. The reactivity of pyridine can be distinguished for three chemical groups. With electrophiles, electrophilic substitution takes place where pyridine expresses aromatic properties. With nucleophiles, pyridine reacts at positions 2 and 4 and thus behaves similar to imines and carbonyls. The reaction with many Lewis acids results in the addition to the nitrogen atom of pyridine, which is similar to the reactivity of tertiary amines. The ability of pyridine and its derivatives to oxidize, forming amine oxides (N-oxides), is also a feature of tertiary amines.
The nitrogen center of pyridine features a basic lone pair of electrons. This lone pair does not overlap with the aromatic π-system ring, consequently pyridine is basic, having chemical properties similar to those of tertiary amines. Protonation gives pyridinium, CHNH.The pK of the conjugate acid (the pyridinium cation) is 5.25. The structures of pyridine and pyridinium are almost identical. The pyridinium cation is isoelectronic with benzene. Pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate (PPTS) is an illustrative pyridinium salt; it is produced by treating pyridine with p-toluenesulfonic acid. In addition to protonation, pyridine undergoes N-centred alkylation, acylation, and N-oxidation. Pyridine and poly(4-vinyl) pyridine have been shown to form conducting molecular wires with remarkable polyenimine structure on UV irradiation, a process which accounts for at least some of the visible light absorption by aged pyridine samples. These wires have been theoretically predicted to be both highly efficient electron donors and acceptors, and yet are resistant to air oxidation.