Recent Advances in Synthesis of Pyridine Derivatives: Modern Synthetic Strategies, Mechanistic Insights, Applications, and Future Perspectives (2020–2025)

The synthesis of substituted and fused pyridine architectures remains a central objective in synthetic chemistry owing to their prevalence in pharmaceuticals, functional materials, and coordination systems. In recent years, this field has advanced significantly through innovations in catalyst design, progressing from conventional homogeneous systems toward nanostructured and framework‐based catalytic platforms. This review provides a critical and concept‐oriented analysis of catalytic strategies for pyridine synthesis, with emphasis on how catalyst design governs activity, selectivity, sustainability, and recyclability. Distinct catalytic paradigms, including transition‐metal catalysts, nanocatalysts, ionic liquids, covalent organic frameworks, metal‐organic frameworks, and hybrid systems are comparatively discussed to highlight trends in efficiency and methodological development, as well as key challenges associated with catalyst stability, recyclability, scalability, and mechanistic understanding. In addition, microwave‐assisted transformations, green synthetic methodologies, and other miscellaneous approaches are critically assessed for synthesis of pyridine scaffolds. The article goes beyond synthetic innovation to discuss how pyridine cores are used in pharmacologically active chemicals, agrochemical agents, optoelectronic devices, and coordination systems. By integrating recent advances with existing limitations, this review outlines future research directions, focusing on asymmetric catalysis, using renewable feedstocks, and computationally guided catalyst design toward the development of more efficient and sustainable pyridine synthesis.