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Concept
Amine
Summary
In chemistry, amines (əˈmi:n,_ˈæmi:n, ˈeɪmiːn) are compounds and functional groups that contain a basic nitrogen atom with a lone pair. Amines are formally derivatives of ammonia (), wherein one or more hydrogen atoms have been replaced by a substituent such as an alkyl or aryl group (these may respectively be called alkylamines and arylamines; amines in which both types of substituent are attached to one nitrogen atom may be called alkylarylamines). Important amines include amino acids, biogenic amines, trimethylamine, and aniline. Inorganic derivatives of ammonia are also called amines, such as monochloramine ().
The substituent is called an amino group.
Compounds with a nitrogen atom attached to a carbonyl group, thus having the structure , are called amides and have different chemical properties from amines.
Amines can be classified according to the nature and number of substituents on nitrogen. Aliphatic amines contain only H and alkyl substituents. Aromatic amines have the nitrogen atom connected to an aromatic ring.
Amines, alkyl and aryl alike, are organized into three subcategories (see table) based on the number of carbon atoms adjacent to the nitrogen(how many hydrogen atoms of the ammonia molecule are replaced by hydrocarbon groups):
Primary (1°) amines—Primary amines arise when one of three hydrogen atoms in ammonia is replaced by an alkyl or aromatic group. Important primary alkyl amines include, methylamine, most amino acids, and the buffering agent tris, while primary aromatic amines include aniline.
Secondary (2°) amines—Secondary amines have two organic substituents (alkyl, aryl or both) bound to the nitrogen together with one hydrogen. Important representatives include dimethylamine, while an example of an aromatic amine would be diphenylamine.
Tertiary (3°) amines—In tertiary amines, nitrogen has three organic substituents. Examples include trimethylamine, which has a distinctively fishy smell, and EDTA.
A fourth subcategory is determined by the connectivity of the substituents attached to the nitrogen:
Cyclic amines—Cyclic amines are either secondary or tertiary amines.
Official source
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