MOLECULE

Ethylenediamine

Ethylenediamine also known as EDDI or 1,2-diaminoethane, belongs to the class of organic compounds known as monoalkylamines. These are organic compounds containing a primary aliphatic amine group. Ethylenediamine is an organic compound with the formula C2H4(NH2)2. It is a colorless liquid with an ammonia-like odor is a strongly basic amine. It is a widely used building block in chemical synthesis, with approximately 700,000 tonnes produced in 2017. Ethylenediamine readily reacts with moisture in humid air to produce a corrosive, toxic and irritating mist, to which even short exposures can cause serious damage to health. Ethylenediamine is produced industrially by treating 1,2-dichloroethane with ammonia under pressure at 180 °C in an aqueous medium (https://doi.org/10.1002/14356007.a02_001). It is used as a precursor to chelation agents, drugs, and agrochemicals. Ethylenediamine, because it contains two amine groups, is a widely used precursor to various polymers. It has also been detected in the volatile fraction of Cannabis sativa samples obtained from police seizures (PMID: 26657499).