UC Riverside Chemists have cracked a cheap, clean and quick way to prepare amines. This might not sound too sexy but these nitrogen-containing organic compounds have wide industrial applications such as solvents, additives, anti-foam agents, corrosion inhibitors, detergents, dyes and bactericides.

More importantly, the present way of producing amines is a costly two-step process that results in massive amounts of byproducts as waste.

“Although there are several methods to prepare amines on laboratory scales, most of them are not suitable for commodity chemical production not only because of the formation of waste materials but also because the cost of the starting substances used to prepare amines is high,” said Guy Bertrand, a distinguished professor of chemistry, whose lab made the discovery.

Bertrand explained that, currently, companies use hydrochloric acid, a highly corrosive solution, to produce amines. To generate one ton of amines, manufacturers must discard three tons of byproducts, adding to the overall cost of production.

“Our ‘green chemistry’ method, however, produces no waste, which makes it inexpensive,” Bertrand said. “Moreover, the reaction is a quick one-step reaction, and you need a tiny amount of a catalyst to do the trick.”
The National Institutes of Health and Rhodia, Inc., funded the study. Find out more at the UC Riverside Newsroom.