Question

What is the action of acetic anhydride on ethylamine ,diethylamine , triethylamine?

Answer 1

Answer:

acetic anhydride react with ethylamine then it gives N-acetylethylamine. when react with diethylamine then it gives monoacetyle

Answer 2

reaction of acetic anhydride on ethylamine  gives N -ethylethanamide ,

with diethylamine it gives N,N -diethylethanamide

and does not react with  triethylamine .

Explanation:

Acid Anhydrides react with amines to form amides , the mechanism includes the following steps :

1. nucleophilic attack by amine
2. deprotonation by amine
3. leaving group removal

as ethylamine and diethylamine has one hydrogen attached to nitrogen ,they can undergo step 2 easily ,

while tertiary amine like triethylamine because of absence of hydrogen cannot undergo step 2 and is inert to reaction .