2-Quinolinecarboxylic acid efficiently promotes both the dehydrative allylation of alcohols and the deallylation of allyl ethers and esters in the presence of [CpRu(CH3CN)(3)]PF6. Comparison of the relative reactivity of various 4-substituted 2-pyridinecarboxylic acids has revealed two linear relations with different rho values in the Hammett plots. These phenomena can be rationalized by the balance between the pi-accepting ability of the pyridine moiety and the acidity of the carboxylic acid of the 2-pyridinecarboxylic acid derivative.