Density 984 kg/m³ | Appearance colourless liquid | |
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2,6-Xylidine is an aniline derivative with the chemical formula (CH3)2C6H3NH2. It is an isomer of 2,4-xylidine and 3,4-xylidine. It is a colourless liquid although commercial samples can appear to be yellow or even red.
Production and reactions
Many xylidines are prepared by nitration of a xylene followed by hydrogenation of the nitroaromatic, but this approach is not efficient for this isomer. Instead, it is prepared from by treatment of the related xylenol with ammonia in the presence of oxide catalysts.
2,6-Xylidine is a precursor to the anesthetic lidocaine: It is the precursor to the NHC ligand called Imes.
References
2,6-Xylidine Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA