3.7.1
Nature & Preparation of Amines
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Nature of Amines
Amines are organic compounds that contain nitrogen. They can be thought of as alkylated forms of ammonia (e.g. NRH2). You can have both aliphatic and aromatic amines.

Aliphatic amines
- Aliphatic amines are amines containing aliphatic -R groups, such as alkyl chains.
- The alkyl chain may be as short as methyl, or much longer.

Aromatic amines
- Aromatic amines share the same general formula as aliphatic amines.
- But aromatic amines must have an aromatic -R group.

Amides
- Amides are different to amines but we must also be able to identify them - they crop up throughout this course.
- An amide contains a -RCONH2 group, as shown above.
Classification of Amines
Amines, both aliphatic and aromatic, can be classified into primary, secondary and tertiary amines.

Primary amines
- Primary amines contain ONE -R group and TWO -H groups.
- NRH2.

Secondary amines
- Secondary amines contain TWO -R groups and ONE -H group.
- NR2H.

Tertiary amines
- Tertiary amines contain THREE -R groups and NO -H groups.
- NR3.

Ammonium ions
- Under certain conditions, there is a possibility of a fourth group being added through a dative covalent bond.
- This is possible because of the lone pair on the nitrogen.
- An example is methylamine, N(CH3)H2. in acid; N(CH3)H3+
- These molecules are called ammonium ions and are often found as ammonium salts - as the ion is much more stable in this form (e.g. (CH3)H3N+Cl−).
Preparation of Amines
We will consider ways to prepare aliphatic and aromatic amines.

Halogenoalkane and ammonia
- We can produce amines by heating halogenoalkanes with excess ammonia.
- Above shows the mechanism of how this happens.
- The overall reaction is:
- NH3 + CH3Cl → CH3NH2 + HCl


Halogenoalkane and ammonia
- There is one issue with this method.
- The primary amine produced is also nucleophilic because it too has a lone pair of electrons and can react with the halogenoalkane itself to produce a secondary amine.
- This process can happen again to produce a tertiary amine and a quaternary ammonium ion - as shown above.


Reducing a nitrile
- You can form an amine by the reduction of a nitrile in two ways.
- First method:
- LiAlH4.
- Dilute acid.
- In the equation above the [H] term represents the reducing agent which is LiAlH4!

Reducing a nitrile
- The previous method is good but LiAlH4 is expensive.
- Instead, the second method is catalytic hydrogenation.
- You need:
- Hydrogen gas.
- Metal catalyst e.g. platinum or nickel.
- High temperature and pressure.

Preparing aromatic amines
- These are produced by reducing nitrobenzene, a two step process.
- First step:
- Tin.
- Conc. HCl.
- Under reflux.
- This forms an ionic salt. To obtain the amine we carry out the second step:
- Add NaOH, a base.
1Physical Chemistry
1.1Atoms, Molecules & Stoichiometry
1.2Atomic Structure
1.2.1Fundamental Particles1.2.2Isotopes & Mass Number1.2.3Electron Shells, Sub-Shells & Orbitals1.2.4Electron Configuration1.2.5Ionisation Energy1.2.6Factors Affecting Ionisation Energies1.2.7Trends of Ionisation1.2.8Specific Impacts on Ionisation Energies1.2.9Electron Affinity1.2.10End of Topic Test - Atomic Structure1.2.11A-A* (AO2/3) - Atomic Structure
1.3Chemical Bonding
1.3.1Ionic Bonding1.3.2Covalent & Dative Bonding1.3.3Shapes of Molecules1.3.4Intermolecular Forces1.3.5Intermolecular Forces 21.3.6Electronegativity1.3.7Bond Length, Bond Energy, & Bond Polarity1.3.8Metallic Bonding1.3.9Physical Properties1.3.10End of Topic Test - Bonding1.3.11A-A* (AO2/3) - Bonding
1.4States of Matter
1.5Chemical Energetics
1.6Electrochemistry
1.7Equilibria
1.7.1Dynamic Equilibrium & Le Chatelier1.7.2Kc1.7.3Kp1.7.4pH1.7.5The Ionic Product of Water1.7.6Weak Acids & Bases1.7.7Introduction to Solubility Equilibria1.7.8Solubility Equilibria Calculations1.7.9Free Energy of Dissolution1.7.10pH and Solubility1.7.11Common-Ion Effect1.7.12End of Topic Test - Kp & Electrochemistry1.7.13A-A* (AO2/3) - Electrochemical Cells
1.8Partition Coefficient
1.9Reaction Kinetics
1.9.1Collision Theory1.9.2Orders, Rate Constants & Equations1.9.3Rate Graphs1.9.4Rate Determining Step1.9.5Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution1.9.6Catalysts1.9.7Homogeneous Catalysts1.9.8Heterogeneous Catalysts1.9.9End of Topic Test - Kinetics1.9.10End of Topic Test - Rate Equations1.9.11A-A* (AO2/3) - Rate Equations
2Inorganic Chemistry
2.1The Periodic Table
2.2Group 2
2.3Group 17
2.4Transition Metals
3Organic Chemistry & Analysis
3.1Introduction to Organic Chemistry
3.2Hydrocarbons
3.2.1Fractional Distillation3.2.2Cracking3.2.3Combustion3.2.4Chlorination3.2.5End of Topic Test - Alkanes3.2.6Introduction to Alkenes3.2.7Reactions of Alkenes3.2.8Polymerisation Reactions3.2.9End of Topic Test - Alkenes3.2.10Arenes3.2.11Evidence for Structure of Arenes3.2.12Reactions of Benzene3.2.13End of Topic Test -Arenes
3.3Halogen Derivatives
3.4Hydroxy Compounds
3.5Carbonyl Compounds
3.6Carboxylic Acids & Derivatives
3.7Nitrogen Compounds
3.8Polymerisation
3.9Analytical Techniques
3.9.1Chromatography3.9.2High-Performance Liquid Chromatography3.9.3Gas Chromatography3.9.4IR Spectroscopy3.9.5Uses of IR Spectroscopy3.9.6Mass Spectrometry3.9.7Mass Spectrometry Analysis3.9.8Nuclear Magnetic Resonance3.9.9Carbon-13 NMR3.9.10Proton NMR I3.9.11Proton NMR II3.9.12End of Topic Test - Analytical Techniques3.9.13A-A* (AO2/3) - Analytical Techniques
Jump to other topics
1Physical Chemistry
1.1Atoms, Molecules & Stoichiometry
1.2Atomic Structure
1.2.1Fundamental Particles1.2.2Isotopes & Mass Number1.2.3Electron Shells, Sub-Shells & Orbitals1.2.4Electron Configuration1.2.5Ionisation Energy1.2.6Factors Affecting Ionisation Energies1.2.7Trends of Ionisation1.2.8Specific Impacts on Ionisation Energies1.2.9Electron Affinity1.2.10End of Topic Test - Atomic Structure1.2.11A-A* (AO2/3) - Atomic Structure
1.3Chemical Bonding
1.3.1Ionic Bonding1.3.2Covalent & Dative Bonding1.3.3Shapes of Molecules1.3.4Intermolecular Forces1.3.5Intermolecular Forces 21.3.6Electronegativity1.3.7Bond Length, Bond Energy, & Bond Polarity1.3.8Metallic Bonding1.3.9Physical Properties1.3.10End of Topic Test - Bonding1.3.11A-A* (AO2/3) - Bonding
1.4States of Matter
1.5Chemical Energetics
1.6Electrochemistry
1.7Equilibria
1.7.1Dynamic Equilibrium & Le Chatelier1.7.2Kc1.7.3Kp1.7.4pH1.7.5The Ionic Product of Water1.7.6Weak Acids & Bases1.7.7Introduction to Solubility Equilibria1.7.8Solubility Equilibria Calculations1.7.9Free Energy of Dissolution1.7.10pH and Solubility1.7.11Common-Ion Effect1.7.12End of Topic Test - Kp & Electrochemistry1.7.13A-A* (AO2/3) - Electrochemical Cells
1.8Partition Coefficient
1.9Reaction Kinetics
1.9.1Collision Theory1.9.2Orders, Rate Constants & Equations1.9.3Rate Graphs1.9.4Rate Determining Step1.9.5Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution1.9.6Catalysts1.9.7Homogeneous Catalysts1.9.8Heterogeneous Catalysts1.9.9End of Topic Test - Kinetics1.9.10End of Topic Test - Rate Equations1.9.11A-A* (AO2/3) - Rate Equations
2Inorganic Chemistry
2.1The Periodic Table
2.2Group 2
2.3Group 17
2.4Transition Metals
3Organic Chemistry & Analysis
3.1Introduction to Organic Chemistry
3.2Hydrocarbons
3.2.1Fractional Distillation3.2.2Cracking3.2.3Combustion3.2.4Chlorination3.2.5End of Topic Test - Alkanes3.2.6Introduction to Alkenes3.2.7Reactions of Alkenes3.2.8Polymerisation Reactions3.2.9End of Topic Test - Alkenes3.2.10Arenes3.2.11Evidence for Structure of Arenes3.2.12Reactions of Benzene3.2.13End of Topic Test -Arenes
3.3Halogen Derivatives
3.4Hydroxy Compounds
3.5Carbonyl Compounds
3.6Carboxylic Acids & Derivatives
3.7Nitrogen Compounds
3.8Polymerisation
3.9Analytical Techniques
3.9.1Chromatography3.9.2High-Performance Liquid Chromatography3.9.3Gas Chromatography3.9.4IR Spectroscopy3.9.5Uses of IR Spectroscopy3.9.6Mass Spectrometry3.9.7Mass Spectrometry Analysis3.9.8Nuclear Magnetic Resonance3.9.9Carbon-13 NMR3.9.10Proton NMR I3.9.11Proton NMR II3.9.12End of Topic Test - Analytical Techniques3.9.13A-A* (AO2/3) - Analytical Techniques
Practice questions on Nature & Preparation of Amines
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- 1Two type of amine:Fill in the list
- 2How many bonds does the nitrogen in amine molecules have?Multiple choice
- 3
- 4Examples of amines:Fill in the list
- 5
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