Hofmann elimination
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Fig 1: Hofmann elimination overview
Hofmann elimination (also known as exhaustive methylation or Hofmann Degradation) is a process where an amine is reacted to create a tertiary amine and an alkene by 1) treatment with excess treatment with excess methyl iodide followed by 2) treatment with silver oxide, water, and heat (Fig. 1).
After Step 1, a quartenary ammonium iodide salt is created as can be seen in the exact mechanism in Figure 2.Fig 2: Hofmann elimination mechanism
The major alkene product is the least substituted and generally the least stable. This is in direct contrast to normal elimination reactions where the more substituted, stable product is dominant.
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External Links
- [Hofmann elimination on www.organic-chemistry.org (http://www.organic-chemistry.org/frames.htm?http://www.organic-chemistry.org/namedreactions/hofmann-elimination.shtm)]
