In Regard to Ethan B. Ludmir et al

Carboxylic acids react with diazomethane in an ether solvent via alkylation at the carboxylate oxygen atom to give methyl esters of the corresponding acid with excellent yields.

The hybridized nitrogen atom in amines possesses a lone pair of electrons and is bound to three substituents with a bond angle of around 108°, which is less than the tetrahedral angle of 109.5°. However, the C–N–H bond angle is slightly larger at 112°, with a carbon–nitrogen bond length of 147 pm. This carbon–nitrogen bond length of of amines is longer than the carbon–oxygen bond of alcohols (143 pm) but shorter than alkanes’ carbon–carbon bond (154 pm). These aspects are illustrated in Figure...

Heterocyclic amines, where the N atom is a part of an alicyclic system, are similar in basicity to alkylamines. Interestingly, the heterocyclic amine having a nitrogen atom as part of an aromatic ring has much less basicity than its corresponding alicyclic counterpart. For this reason, as presented in Figure 1, piperidine (pKb = 2.8) is significantly more basic than pyridine (pKb = 8.8).

Amines with low molecular weight are usually gaseous at room temperature, while those with high molecular weight are liquid or solids in nature. Usually, low molecular weight amines have a rotten fish-like smell. Diamines typically have a pungent smell. For instance, cadaverine and putrescine, depicted in Figure 1, are two molecules responsible for decaying tissue.

Direct alkylation is not a suitable method for synthesizing amines because it produces polyalkylated products. Gabriel synthesis is the most preferred method to exclusively make primary amines. The method uses phthalimide, which contains a protected form of nitrogen that participates in alkylation only once to predominantly give primary amines.
Strong bases like NaOH or KOH deprotonate the phthalimide to form the corresponding anion, which acts as a nucleophile. Further, the anion attacks an...

In proton NMR spectroscopy, primary amines and secondary amines showcase their N–H protons as a broad signal in the chemical shift range between δ 0.5 and 5 ppm. The exact position in this range depends on several factors, including sample concentration, hydrogen bonding, and the type of solvent used. Since amine protons undergo fast proton exchange in solution, the protons are labile and therefore do not participate in any splitting with adjacent protons. Thus, the observed peak is broad and...