What molecule am I?
Trimethylamine (TMA) is the simplest tertiary aliphatic amine. It鈥檚 responsible for the pungent odor given off by fish and other marine and aquatic animals. It is also a degradation product of plants that have high nitrogen contents and a distillation product of sugarbeet residues.
Trimethylamine has been known since at least 1878, but it is uncertain as to who discovered and identified it. Several 19th-century patents and journal articles describe its use for converting chloride salts to carbonates and bicarbonates, as a reagent in the dye industry, and in other chemical reactions.
Trimethylamine is a gas at ambient temperature, but it is usually sold as a liquid under pressure or in an aqueous solution. It can be dangerous to handle, as shown in the hazard information table. It is a strong Lewis base that forms adducts with Lewis acids such as borane and other hydrides, metal halides, and related organometallic compounds.
Trimethylamine is used as a basic catalyst, in the preparation of quaternary ammonium hydroxides and salts, and in ion-exchange resins. It is also an important starting material for manufacturing the essential nutrient choline1; conversely, excessive choline intake results in its degradation to TMA in the body.
The 2022 worldwide market value of trimethylamine is estimated at US$109 million. At 鈮�$2250/t, this year鈥檚 production should approach 50,000 tonnes.
1. CAS Reg. No. 62-49-7.
Trimethylamine hazard information
| Hazard class* | GHS code and hazard statement | |
|---|---|---|
| Flammable gases, category 1 | H220鈥擡xtremely flammable gas |  |
| Gases under pressure, liquefied gas | H280鈥擟ontains gas under pressure; may explode if heated听 |  |
| Skin corrosion/irritation, category 2 | H315鈥擟auses skin irritation |  |
| Serious eye damage/eye irritation, category 1 | H318鈥擟auses serious eye damage |  |
| Acute toxicity, inhalation, category 4 | H332鈥擧armful if inhaled | |
| Specific target organ toxicity, single exposure, respiratory tract irritation, category 3 | H335鈥擬ay cause respiratory irritation | |
*Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals.听
Molecules from the journals
Two substances that may have therapeutic effects were discovered in 2009 in . (鈥�)-Glionitrin A1 has antibacterial and antitumor activity; the closely related (鈥�)-glionitrin B2 can hamper the migration of cancer cells. The were reported in 2021 by Nicolas R. Koning, Anders P. Sundin, and Daniel Strand* at Lund University (Sweden).
Rongalite3, or sodium hydroxymethanesulfinate, a salt known since 1908, has long been used as a bleaching and reducing agent in the dye industry. This year, Yan-Dong Wu, An-Xin Wu, and colleagues at Central China Normal University (Wuhan) showed that it can function as a 鈥攁ll in the same reaction.
1. CAS Reg. No. 1116153-15-1.
2. CAS Reg. No. 1155759-94-6.
3. CAS Reg. No. 149-44-0.
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Trimethylamine fast facts
| CAS Reg. No. | 75-50-3 |
nomenclature | Methanamine, N,N-dimethyl- |
| Empirical formula | C3H9N |
| Molar mass | 59.11听g/mol |
| Appearance | Colorless gas or liquid |
| Boiling point | 3 掳C |
| Water solubility | Miscible |
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