Physical Properties of Amines

Have you ever wondered why toilets smell so bad? Well, ammonia and compounds of ammonia called amines are responsible for that foul smell. These compounds have a pungent smell, but they have an enormous significance in chemistry and our everyday lives. Amines are an essential class of organic compounds. Amines are an exciting subject to study, and it also has a major application in biology. Nitrogen is the only famous product, but many other products of ammonia get derived by changing the hydrogen atoms. In this article, you can learn about the classification of amines, their structure, and their physical properties of amines.  

What are Amines?

Amines are organic compounds, deriving from ammonia (NH₃). Amines get derived by replacing one or more hydrogen atoms with an alkyl or aryl group. Amines have a nitrogen atom with a lone pair of electrons. When you replace one or more hydrogen atoms with substituent groups like alkyl or aryl in ammonia, you get a new type of organic compound called amines. Amino acids, biogenic amine, trimethylamine, and aniline are some of the important amine structures.    

Classification of Amines

Amines get classified into four categories, such as primary, secondary, tertiary, and cyclic. A primary amine is the one where you replace one of the three hydrogen atoms with an alkyl or aryl group. When you replace two of the three hydrogen atoms, then you get a secondary amine. Likewise, by replacing all three hydrogen atoms, tertiary amines get formed. 

Keep in mind that only secondary or tertiary amines can be cyclic. Examples of primary amines are CH₃NH₂, methylamine, CH₃NHCH_3, and dimethylamine are examples of secondary amines. An example of tertiary amine is trimethylamine and 3 - member ring aziridine is an example of cyclic amine.  

Physical Properties of Amines

The following are various amine physical properties that you should know.

General Properties:

• Lower aliphatic amine often finds its gaseous state, and they have a fishy smell. 

• Primary amines having three or four carbon atoms are in the liquid state at room temperatures, and higher ones get found in the solid state.

• Aniline and various arylamines are colorless. But, they do get colored due to atmospheric oxidation when you keep them in the open.

Solubility Characteristics:

• Lower aliphatic amines can form hydrogen bonds with water molecules. And thus, such amines are soluble in water. 

• When there is an increase in the hydrophobic alkyl part of the amines, its molar mass goes up. As a result, such amines have a lower solubility in water. 

• Amines are soluble in organic solvents like alcohol, ether, and benzene because alcohols have high polarity as compared to amines.

Boiling Points of Amines:

• Primary and secondary amines get engaged in intermolecular association because of the hydrogen bonding between the nitrogen of one molecule with the hydrogen of another molecule.

• Such intermolecular association is more in primary amines as compared to secondary amines because there are two hydrogen atoms present for bond formation. 

• Tertiary amines don’t have an intermolecular association as they don't have any hydrogen atoms available for hydrogen bond formation.

• That’s why the order of boiling points for isomeric amines goes like primary > secondary > tertiary.  

Those were some fundamental physical properties of amines.

Amines and Amino Acids

I am sure you must have come across the word"amino acid". It is a compound that is a component of biological proteins. Amines are involved in the formation of amino acids while Amines are compounds that are derived from Ammonia. Amines chapter is studied in organic chemistry and they are basically classified as functional groups or organic nitrogen compounds containing nitrogen atoms with lone pairs of electrons. Many vitamins are made up of amino acids. Serotonin is an important amine that functions as one of the most important neurotransmitters in the brain. Amines are an important class of organic compounds found widely in plants and animals as proteins, vitamins, alkaloids, etc. Amine research is attractive in many ways. Amine chemistry is very important in biology. It is essential for all living things. Amines can be liquids, solids, or gases at room temperature. 

Types of Amines 

Amines are typically classified into- Aliphatic and Aromatic Amines. 

1. Aliphatic Amines: Aliphatic amines are compounds where the nitrogen atom is directly bonded to one or more alkyl groups. 

2. Aromatic Amines: Aromatic amines are compounds that are attached to aromatic hydrocarbons and have at least one benzene ring. 

Aromatic Amines are further classified into- 

1. Aryl amines 

2. Aryl alkyl amines 

Further Classification of Amine

Based on the number of alkyl or aryl groups attached to the nitrogen of the amine, further classification is as Primary, Secondary Tertiary, and cyclic.

• Primary Amine: When one hydrogen atom in ammonia is replaced with alkyl or aromatic groups, that means it is a primary amine. Some examples of primary alkylamines include amino acids and methylamines, and primary aromatic amines include aniline. 

• Secondary Amine: Amines with two hydrogen atoms of ammonia are replaced with organic substituents, alkyl, and/or aryl substituents, forming secondary amine. Common examples include dimethylamine. Diphenylamine is also an example of aromatic amines.

• Tertiary Amine: Amines are formed when all three hydrogen atoms of ammonia get replaced by organic substituents, Alkyl or aryl groups, forming Tertiary amine. Examples are trimethylamine and EDTA.

Keep in mind that only secondary or tertiary amines can be cyclic. Examples of primary amines are CH₃NH₂, methylamine, CH₃NHCH₃, and dimethylamine are examples of secondary amines. An example of tertiary amine is trimethylamine and 3 - member ring aziridine is an example of cyclic amine.