A convenient approach to 3-trifluoromethyl-6-azaindoles

[Display omitted] •2-Trifluoromethyl-6-azaindole and its derivatives.•Hydration of 2,2,2-Trifluoro-1-(2-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine-3-yl)ethanone.•Partially reduced 2-trifluoromethyl-6-azaindole derivatives. A new method for the synthesis of 2-trifluoromethyl-6-azaindole 4is proposed. The method is a catalyst free, simple and scalable starting from available 3-amino-4-methylpyridine. Hydration of the trifluoracetyl derivative 2 in hydrochloric acid afforded its ketal salt 3. The molecular structures of both compounds were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The efficient scalable synthetic route to 2-trifluoromethyl 6-azaindole made possible synthesis of a variety of 3-substituted 2-trifluoromethyl 6-azaindoles and their partially saturated derivatives.