Amines and alcohol amines
DETAIL
Reactions and use
Diisopropylamine is a common amine nucleophile in organic synthesis. Because it is bulky, it is a more selective nucleophile than, say, dimethylamine.
It reacts with organolithium reagents to give lithium diisopropylamide (LDA). LDA is a strong, non-nucleophilic base
The main commercial applications of diisopropylamine is as a precursor to two herbicides, diallate and triallate, as well as certain sulfenamides used in the vulcanization of rubber.
It is also used to prepare N,N-Diisopropylethylamine (Hünig's base) by alkylation with diethyl sulfate.
The bromide salt of diisopropylamine, diisopropylammonium bromide, is a room-temperature organic ferroelectric material.
Diisopropylamine, which is commercially available, may be prepared by the reductive amination of acetone with ammonia using a modified copper oxide, generally copper chromite, as a catalyst.