Dimethylaniline
N,N-Dimethylaniline (DMA) is an organic chemical compound which is a substituted derivative of aniline. It consists of a benzene ring and a substituted amino group, making it a tertiary aromatic amine. It is a poisonous oily liquid. DMA is used as a solvent and as a promoter in the curing of polyester and vinyl ester resins.
DMA is also used as a reagent in chemical synthesis. For example, it is can be nitrated to produce tetryl, an explosive compound with four nitro groups.
DMA was discovered in 1850 by A. W. Hofmann, who prepared it by heating aniline and iodomethane:
- C6H5NH2 + 2 CH3I → C6H5N(CH3)2 + 2 HI
Lauth also synthesized DMA by heating aniline hydrochloride and methanol:
- C6H5NH2•HCl + 2 CH3OH → C6H5N(CH3)2 + 2 H2O + HCl
Today DMA is synthesized by methylating pressurized aniline with a mixture of methanol and sulfuric acid, which absorbs the produced water from the reaction:
- C6H5NH2 + 2 CH3OH → C6H5N(CH3)2 + 2 H2O
References
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Last updated on Thursday October 02, 2008 at 03:24:39 PDT (GMT -0700)
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