Appearance Colorless liquid Density 1.02 g/cm³ Boiling point 80 °C Soluble in Water | Formula C9H16N2 Molar mass 152.24 g/mol Melting point -70 °C | |
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IUPAC ID 2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10-octahydropyrimido[1,2-a]azepine | ||
1,8-Diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene, or more commonly DBU, is a chemical compound and belongs to the class of amidine compounds. It is used in organic synthesis as a catalyst, a complexing ligand, and a non-nucleophilic base.
Contents
Occurrence
Although DBU is typically produced synthetically, it is also an alkaloid isolated from the sponge Niphates digitalis. The biosynthesis of DBU has been proposed to begin with suberic aldehyde and diaminopropane.
Uses
As a reagent in organic chemistry, DBU is used as a catalyst, a complexing ligand, and a non-nucleophilic base. It is also used as a curing agent for epoxy. It is used in fullerene purification with trimethylbenzene (it reacts with C70 and higher fullerenes, but not to C60 fullerenes); and it is also used as a catalyst in polyurethane production. It has a strong catalyst effect for the reactions of alicyclic and aliphatic isocyanates. It also exhibited its dual character (base and nucleophile) in the synthesis of aryl- & styryl- terminal acetylenes.