Related compounds Appearance Colourless liquid | Formula C2H4N2 | |
Related alkanenitriles | ||
Aminoacetonitrile is a simple organic compound containing both nitrile and amino groups. It is somewhat similar to the simplest amino acid, glycine. This compound is commercially available as the chloride and sulfate salts.
Contents
Production and applications
Industrially aminoacetonitrile is produced from glycolonitrile by reaction with ammonia:
HOCH2CN + NH3 → H2NCH2CN + H2OThe aminoacetonitrile can be hydrolysed to give glycine:
Aminoacetonitrile derivatives are useful antihelmintics. They act as nematode specific ACh agonists causing a spastic paralysis and rapid expulsion from the host.
Occurrence in the interstellar medium
In 2008, aminoacetonitrile was discovered in the Large Molecule Heimat, a giant gas cloud near the galactic center in the constellation Sagittarius by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. This discovery is significant to the debate on whether glycine exists widely in the universe.