General structure of (primary) diamines. The primary amino groups (NH2 ) are marked blue , R is a divalent organic radical (e.g. a para -phenylene group ).
A diamine is an amine with exactly two amino groups . Diamines are used as monomers to prepare polyamides , polyimides , and polyureas . The term diamine refers mostly to primary diamines, as those are the most reactive.[ 1]
In terms of quantities produced, 1,6-diaminohexane (a precursor to Nylon 6-6 ) is most important, followed by ethylenediamine .[ 2] Vicinal diamines (1,2-diamines) are a structural motif in many biological compounds and are used as ligands in coordination chemistry .[ 3]
Geminal diamines (1,1-diamines) are usually reactive intermediates in transimination reactions and the reduction of amidines , in aqueous conditions they preferentially eliminate the less basic amine to leave an iminium ion .[ 4] Some stable geminal diamines have been isolated.[ 5]
^ "Nucleophilicity Trends of Amines" . Master Organic Chemistry . 2018-05-07. Retrieved 2019-08-18 .
^ Karsten Eller; Erhard Henkes; Roland Rossbacher; Hartmut Höke (2005). "Amines, Aliphatic". Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry . Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. doi :10.1002/14356007.a02_001 . ISBN 3-527-30673-0 .
^ Lucet, D., Le Gall, T. and Mioskowski, C. (1998), The Chemistry of Vicinal Diamines . Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 37: 2580–2627. doi :10.1002/(SICI)1521-3773(19981016)37:19<2580::AID-ANIE2580>3.0.CO;2-L
^ Moad, Graeme; Benkovic, S. J. (1 August 1978). "On the mechanism of decomposition of geminal diamines" . Journal of the American Chemical Society . 100 (17): 5495–5499. doi :10.1021/ja00485a038 . ISSN 0002-7863 .
^ Aydın, Fatma; Arslan, N Burcu (5 September 2021). "Synthesis, spectral properties, crystal structure and theoretical calculations of a new geminal diamine: 2,2,2-Trichloro-N,N׳-bis(2-nitrophenyl)-ethane-1,1-diamine" . Journal of Molecular Structure . 1232 : 129976. doi :10.1016/j.molstruc.2021.129976 .