Amine Nomenclature

Primary, secondary, and tertiary amines are compounds consisting of one, two, and three alkyl groups connected to the amino group (–NH2), respectively. As depicted in Figure 1, the common name of the primary amines is obtained by adding the suffix -amine to the alkyl substituent attached to the amino group as the corresponding alkylamine. Figure 1. Structure and nomenclature of some popular primary amines. In IUPAC nomenclature for primary amines, the final -e of the parent alkane is replaced...

The secondary and tertiary amines are derivatives of ammonia, where two and three of its hydrogens are replaced by alkyl groups, respectively. Secondary and tertiary amines can be symmetrical with identical alkyl groups attached to the nitrogen atom or unsymmetrical when more than one type of alkyl group is present. The standard nomenclature of secondary and tertiary amines is similar to the names given to the primary amines. They are generally named alkylamines. As depicted in Figure 1, for...

The simplest aromatic amine is phenylamine, which contains an –NH2 functionality directly attached to an aromatic ring. The name aniline is designated for this skeleton. As shown in Figure 1, the common names of the functionalized anilines involve prefixes ortho-, meta-, and para- to indicate the substitution position. Different functionalized aniline derivatives also have notable trivial names. Figure 1. Common names for functionalized anilines based on substitution. For the systematic...

Molecular compounds or covalent compounds result when atoms share electrons to form covalent bonds. Since there is no electron transfer, molecular compounds do not contain ions; instead, they consist of discrete, neutral molecules. Since covalent compounds are formed from the combination of nonmetals, the periodic table can help recognize many of them. The position of a compound’s elements in the periodic table can predict whether the compound is ionic or covalent (although there are...

In most main group element compounds, the valence electrons of the isolated atoms combine to form chemical bonds that satisfy the octet rule. For instance, the four valence electrons of carbon overlap with electrons from four hydrogen atoms to form CH4. The one valence electron leaves sodium and adds to the seven valence electrons of chlorine to form the ionic formula unit NaCl (Figure 1a). Transition metals do not normally bond in this fashion. They primarily form coordinate covalent bonds, a...