The compound is used infrequently as an oxidizing reagent in organic synthesis.

[1] The structure of pyridine-N-oxide is very similar to that of pyridine with respect to the parameters for the ring.

[3] Oxidation can also be effected by a modified Dakin reaction using a urea-hydrogen peroxide complex,[4] and sodium perborate[5] or, using methylrhenium trioxide (CH3ReO3) as catalyst, with sodium percarbonate.

[3] Further demonstrating its (feeble) basicity, pyridine-N-oxide also serves as a ligand in coordination chemistry.

[8] The N-oxides of various pyridines are precursors to useful drugs:[9] The compound is a skin irritant.