Pyridine-2-carbaldehyde is a colorless oily liquid with a distinctive odor.

Older samples are often brown-colored owing to impurities.

It serves as a precursor to other compounds of interest in coordination chemistry and pharmaceuticals.

Pyridine aldehydes are typically prepared by oxidation of the hydroxymethyl- or methylpyridines.

The aldehyde functional group is subject to nucleophilic attack, specifically by amines to form Schiff bases, which serve as bidentate ligands.