Trimethylamine

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Trimethylamine
Chemical name	Trimethylamine
Chemical formula	C3H9N
Molecular mass	59.11 g/mol
Melting point	-117.1 °C
Boiling point	2.9 °C
Density	0.67 g/ml (0 °C)
CAS number	75-50-3
SMILES	CN(C)C

Trimethylamine, also known as NMe₃, N(CH₃)₃, and TMA, is a colorless, hygroscopic, and flammable simple amine with a typical fishy odor in low concentrations and an ammonia-like odor in higher concentrations. Trimethylamine has a boiling point of 2.9 °C and is a gas at room temperature. Trimethylamine usually comes in pressurized gas cylinders or as a 40% solution in water. Trimethylamine is a nitrogenous base and its positively charged cation is called trimethylammonium cation. A common salt of trimethylamine is trimethylammonium chloride, a hygroscopic colorless solid.

Trimethylamine is a product of decomposition of plants and animals. It is the substance mainly responsible for the fishy odor often associated with fouling fish, bacterial vagina infections, and bad breath.

Contents

1 Applications 2 Trimethylaminuria 3 See also 4 External links

Applications

Trimethylamine is used in the chemical synthesis of choline, tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide, plant growth regulators, strongly basic anion exchange resins, and dye leveling agents.

Trimethylaminuria

Main article: Trimethylaminuria

Trimethylaminuria is a genetic disorder were the body is unable to metabolize trimethylamine from food sources. Patients developed a characteristic fish odour of their sweat, urine, and breath after the consumption of choline-rich foods. Trimethylaminuria is an autosomal recessive disorder involving a trimethylamine oxidase deficiency. Trimethylaminuria has also been observed for a certain breed of Rhode Island Red chicken that produces eggs with a fishy smell.

See also

• Ammonia, NH₃
• Ammonium, NH₄⁺
• Methylamine
• Dimethylamine
• Triethylamine (TEA)

External links

• Molecule of the Month: Trimethylamine (http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/trimethylamine/tmah.htm)
• NIST Webbook data (http://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?Name=trimethylamine&Units=SI)

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) Trimethylamine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimethylamine) version history (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trimethylamine&action=history) GNU Free Documentation Lizenz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License) CC-by-sa (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/)

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