Imine from a carbonyl and an amine

Reaction class

Condensation

Typical conditions

Mild acid catalysis and removal of water. With a hydride present the imine is reduced in place instead.

Mass balance

balanced — the co-products are written out, not dropped

Mechanism

Imine formation, 3 steps

Conditions are what the literature ordinarily uses, recorded so you can see whether yours are in the usual range. They are not a procedure and they are not scaled to your flask.

The amine adds to the carbonyl, the resulting alcohol-amine loses water, and a carbon–nitrogen double bond is left.

1. 1The amine adds to the carbonyl
2. 2The proton moves from nitrogen to oxygen
3. 3Water leaves and the double bond forms

This is the pathway taught for the class, not a record of what was observed. On the platform it is drawn on the structures you supply, with the curly arrows on the atoms that actually move.