© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. We describe a convenient and operationally simple protocol to prepare nicotinonitriles fused to either a cycloalkane or a saturated heterocycle, containing diverse substituents at position 2 of the nicotinonitrile core, under microwave irradiation. The protocol is useful for rapid and automated synthesis of the target compounds. An unusual case of the loss of a tert-butyl group is observed when tert-butylamine was used to bring about the pyridine ring formation.