Preparation of Amines

Preparation of Amines

Amines are rarely built by attaching nitrogen directly; instead they are almost always obtained by transforming a nitrogen-containing functional group that is already present in some other compound. NCERT lays out six such routes, each starting from a different precursor and each with its own reach and its own limitation:

1. Reduction of nitro compounds — nitroalkanes/nitroarenes reduced catalytically or with metal–acid combinations.
2. Ammonolysis of alkyl halides — direct nucleophilic displacement of halide by ammonia.
3. Reduction of nitriles — a chain-extending route, adding one carbon relative to the halide it came from.
4. Reduction of amides — reduction without any change in carbon count.
5. Gabriel phthalimide synthesis — a controlled, high-purity route to primary amines only.
6. Hoffmann bromamide degradation — a chain-shortening route, removing one carbon from an amide. …