1,8-Bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene is an

organic compound Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. For example, carbon-co ...

with the formula CH(NMe) (Me = methyl). It is classified as a peri-naphthalene, i.e. a 1,8-disubstituted derivative of

naphthalene Naphthalene is an organic compound with formula . It is the simplest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, and is a white Crystal, crystalline solid with a characteristic odor that is detectable at concentrations as low as 0.08 Parts-per notation ...

. Owing to its unusual structure, it exhibits exceptional basicity. It is often referred by the trade name Proton Sponge, a trademark of

Sigma-Aldrich Sigma-Aldrich (formally MilliporeSigma) is an American chemical, life science, and biotechnology company owned by the multinational chemical conglomerate Merck Group. Sigma-Aldrich was created in 1975 by the merger of Sigma Chemical Company and ...

Structure and properties

This compound is a

diamine A diamine is an amine with two amino groups. Diamines are used as monomers to prepare polyamides, polyimides, and polyureas. The term ''diamine'' refers mostly to Primary (chemistry), primary diamines, as those are the most reactive. In terms of ...

in which the two dimethylamino groups are attached on the same side ( peri position) of a

ring. This molecule has several very interesting properties; one is its very high

basicity In chemistry, there are three definitions in common use of the word "base": ''Arrhenius bases'', ''Brønsted bases'', and ''Lewis bases''. All definitions agree that bases are substances that react with acids, as originally proposed by Guilla ...

; another is its spectroscopic properties. With a p''K'' of 12.34 for its

conjugate acid A conjugate acid, within the Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, is a chemical compound formed when an acid gives a proton () to a base—in other words, it is a base with a hydrogen ion added to it, as it loses a hydrogen ion in the rever ...

in aqueous solution, 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene is one of the strongest organic bases. However, it only absorbs

proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...

s slowly—hence the trade name. The high basicity is attributed to the relief of strain upon

protonation In chemistry, protonation (or hydronation) is the adding of a proton (or hydron, or hydrogen cation), usually denoted by H+, to an atom, molecule, or ion, forming a conjugate acid. (The complementary process, when a proton is removed from a Brø ...

and/or the strong interaction between the

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

lone pair In chemistry, a lone pair refers to a pair of valence electrons that are not shared with another atom in a covalent bondIUPAC ''Gold Book'' definition''lone (electron) pair''/ref> and is sometimes called an unshared pair or non-bonding pair. Lone ...

s. Additionally, although many aromatic amines such as

aniline Aniline (From , meaning ' indigo shrub', and ''-ine'' indicating a derived substance) is an organic compound with the formula . Consisting of a phenyl group () attached to an amino group (), aniline is the simplest aromatic amine. It is an in ...

show reduced basicity (due to nitrogen being sp² hybridized; its lone pair occupying a 2p orbital and interacting and being withdrawn by the aromatic ring), this is not possible in this molecule, as the nitrogens' methyl groups prevent its substituents from adopting a planar geometry, as this would require forcing methyl groups from each nitrogen atom into one another—thus the basicity is not reduced by this factor which is found in other molecules. It is sterically hindered, making it a weak

nucleophile In chemistry, a nucleophile is a chemical species that forms bonds by donating an electron pair. All molecules and ions with a free pair of electrons or at least one pi bond can act as nucleophiles. Because nucleophiles donate electrons, they are ...

. Because of this combination of properties, it has been used in organic synthesis as a highly selective non-nucleophilic base.Alexander F. Pozharskii and Valery A. Ozeryanskii "Proton sponges and hydrogen transfer phenomena" Mendeleev Commun., 2012, 22, 117–124. Proton sponge also exhibits a very high affinity for boron and is capable of displacing hydride from borane to form a boronium–borohydride ion pair.

Preparation

This compound is commercially available. It may be prepared by the

methylation Methylation, in the chemistry, chemical sciences, is the addition of a methyl group on a substrate (chemistry), substrate, or the substitution of an atom (or group) by a methyl group. Methylation is a form of alkylation, with a methyl group replac ...

of 1,8-diaminonaphthalene with

iodomethane Iodomethane, also called methyl iodide, and commonly abbreviated "MeI", is the chemical compound with the formula CH3I. It is a dense, colorless, volatile liquid. In terms of chemical structure, it is related to methane by replacement of one hy ...

dimethyl sulfate Dimethyl sulfate (DMS) is a chemical compound with formula (CH3O)2SO2. As the diester of methanol and sulfuric acid, its formula is often written as ( CH3)2 SO4 or Me2SO4, where CH3 or Me is methyl. Me2SO4 is mainly used as a methylating agen ...

Related compounds

Other proton sponges

Second generation proton sponges are known with even higher basicity. 1,8-bis(hexamethyltriaminophosphazenyl)naphthalene or HMPN is prepared from 1,8-diaminonaphthalene by reaction with tris(dimethylamino)bromophosphonium bromide in the presence of

triethylamine Triethylamine is the chemical compound with the formula N(CH2CH3)3, commonly abbreviated Et3N. Like triethanolamine and the tetraethylammonium ion, it is often abbreviated TEA. It is a colourless volatile liquid with a strong fishy odor remini ...

. HMPN has a pK of 29.9 in

acetonitrile Acetonitrile, often abbreviated MeCN (methyl cyanide), is the chemical compound with the formula and structure . This colourless liquid is the simplest organic nitrile (hydrogen cyanide is a simpler nitrile, but the cyanide anion is not class ...

which is more than 11 orders of magnitude higher than Proton Sponge. The aromatization of an additional ring in 4,12-Dihydrogen-4,8,12-triazatriangulene is utilized by Al-Yassiri and Puchta to get a representative for a new class of Δ-shaped proton sponges. This compound has a calculated proton affinity of 254 kcal/mol (B3LYP/6-311+G**) and is therefore between 1,8-Bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene and HMPN.

Hydride sponge

The chemical inverse of a proton sponge would be a hydride sponge. This property is exhibited by CH(BMe), which reacts with

potassium hydride Potassium hydride, KH, is the inorganic compound of potassium and hydrogen. It is an alkali metal hydride. It is a white solid, although commercial samples appear gray. It is a powerful superbase that is useful in organic synthesis. It is sold com ...

to afford K H(BMe)H

References

External links

Roger Alder research page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bis(Dimethylamino)Naphthalene, 1, 8- Naphthylamines Reagents for organic chemistry Non-nucleophilic bases Dimethylamino compounds Substances discovered in the 1960s