2,4,6-Trimethylaniline is an

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The ...

with formula (CH₃)₃C₆H₂NH₂. It is an

aromatic amine In organic chemistry, an aromatic amine is an organic compound consisting of an aromatic ring attached to an amine. It is a broad class of compounds that encompasses anilines, but also many more complex aromatic rings and many amine substituents ...

that is of commercial interest as a precursor to dyes. It is prepared by selective mononitration of

mesitylene Mesitylene or 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene is a derivative of benzene with three methyl substituents positioned symmetrically around the ring. The other two isomeric trimethylbenzenes are 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene (pseudocumene) and 1,2,3-trimethylbenze ...

, avoiding oxidation of the methyl groups. The resulting nitro compound is reduced to the

aniline Aniline is an organic compound with the formula C6 H5 NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the simplest aromatic amine In organic chemistry, an aromatic amine is an organic compound consisting of an aroma ...

Coordination chemistry

Trimethylaniline is a building block to a variety of bulky ligands. Condensation with glyoxal gives the 1,2-

diimine ligand Diimines are organic compounds containing two imine (RCH=NR') groups. Common derivatives are 1,2-diketones and 1,3-diimines. These compounds are used as ligands and as precursors to heterocycles. Diimines are prepared by condensation reactions ...

s. An example is

glyoxal-bis(mesitylimine) Glyoxal-bis(mesitylimine) is an organic compound with the formula H2C2(NC6H2Me3)2 (Me = methyl). It is a yellow solid that is soluble in organic solvents. It is classified as a diimine ligand. It is used in coordination chemistry and homogeneous c ...

, a yellow solid that is synthesized by condensation of 2,4,6-trimethylaniline and

glyoxal Glyoxal is an organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of ...

. The diimine is a useful precursor to popular NHC ligands including IMes.Elon A. Ison, Ana Ison "Synthesis of Well-Defined Copper N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes and Their Use as Catalysts for a “Click Reaction”: A Multistep Experiment That Emphasizes the Role of Catalysis in Green Chemistry" J. Chem. Educ., 2012, volume 89, pp 1575–1577. N-heterocyclic carbenes, as found in 2nd generation

Grubbs' catalyst Grubbs catalysts are a series of transition metal carbene complexes used as catalysts for olefin metathesis. They are named after Robert H. Grubbs, the chemist who supervised their synthesis. Several generations of the catalyst have been develo ...

, are also prepared from this compound. :

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trimethylaniline Anilines Alkyl-substituted benzenes