Diisopropylamine

Diisopropylamine is a secondary amine with the chemical formula (CH3)2HC-NH-CH(CH3)2. It is best known as its lithium derivative of its conjugate base, lithium diisopropylamide, known as 'LDA'. LDA is a strong, non-nucleophilic base. Diisopropylamine is a secondary amine with the chemical formula (CH3)2HC-NH-CH(CH3)2. It is best known as its lithium derivative of its conjugate base, lithium diisopropylamide, known as 'LDA'. LDA is a strong, non-nucleophilic base. Diisopropylamine can be dried by distillation from potassium hydroxide (KOH) or drying over sodium wire. Diisopropylamine is primarily used 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 an organic molecular solid whose crystals are ferroelectric at room temperature. This renders it a possible more biospherically inert alternative to barium titanate. Diisopropylamine is commercially available. It may be prepared by the reductive amination of acetone with ammonia using a modified copper oxide, generally copper chromite, as a catalyst: