Reactivity of pyridine-2,4,6-tricarboxylic acid toward Zn(II) salts under different reaction conditions

Pyridine-2,4,6-tricarboxylic acid (ptcH3) reacts with a Zn(II) salt at room temperature to form different products depending upon the presence or absence of pyridine in the reaction mixture. It has been shown that ptcH3 can be broken almost instantaneously at room temperature by Zn(II) ion in the presence of pyridine, the anion present has no role in this reaction and the reaction is driven forward due to high stability of the product.