grammar - Dictionary form of verb followed by に

I've recently begun noticing that occasionally I'll see a dictionary form of the verb followed by the particle に, for example:

1.)まだ学校へ行くには早い時間です。 It's still too early to go to school.

I've been kind of confused by it since from my experience normally the dictionary form of verbs are followed by a nominalizer の　or こと before a particle. For example:

2.)まだ学校へ行くのは早い時間です。

3.)まだ学校へ行くのに早い時間です。

What is the general function of に directly following the dictionary form of a verb and how is it generally used? How would sentence 1's meaning differ from sentences 2 and 3?

Answer

Here, には means "in order to" or "for the purpose of". In sentences that use this expression, the predicate often expresses the necessity for or importance of using a specific means. You can use the nominalizer の if you choose to, and it won't change the meaning: まだ学校へ行くのには早い時間です。

This には can also come after a noun, as in このかばんは長旅には便利だ (This bag is suitable for long trips).

There are many other expressions involving に that can attach to verbs (or i-adjectives and other interesting things) including:

にしては

にちがいない

に当たって

にもかかわらず

に従って

に過ぎない

につれて

Source: A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar