Production of Amines
- Amines are compounds with the amine (-NH2) functional group
- They can be produced as a result of nucleophilic substitution reactions of halogenoalkanes when they are heated under pressure with ethanolic ammonia (NH3 in ethanol)
- The halogen atom in halogenoalkanes is more electronegative than the carbon atom it is bonded to
- The halogen, therefore, draws electron density from the C-X bond (where X is the halogen) towards itself
- The carbon, therefore, has a partial positive charge and the halogen itself has a partial negative charge
- The lone pair of electrons on the nitrogen atom (in NH3) acts as a nucleophile and attacks the partial positively charged carbon
- As a result of this nucleophilic attack, the C-X bond is broken and the halogen is substituted by an amine group
Amine replaces the halogen in halogenoalkanes in a nucleophilic substitution reaction
