Acetamide - Misplaced Pages

Acetamide (systematic name: ethanamide) is an organic compound with the formula CH₃CONH₂. It is an amide derived from ammonia and acetic acid. It finds some use as a plasticizer and as an industrial solvent. The related compound N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) is more widely used, but it is not prepared from acetamide. Acetamide can be considered an intermediate between acetone, which has two methyl (CH₃) groups either side of the carbonyl (CO), and urea which has two amide (NH₂) groups in those locations. Acetamide is also a naturally occurring mineral with the IMA symbol: Ace.

Production

Laboratory scale

Acetamide can be produced in the laboratory from ammonium acetate by dehydration:

→ CH₃C(O)NH₂ + H₂O

Alternatively acetamide can be obtained in excellent yield via ammonolysis of acetylacetone under conditions commonly used in reductive amination.

It can also be made from anhydrous acetic acid, acetonitrile and very well dried hydrogen chloride gas, using an ice bath, alongside more valuable reagent acetyl chloride. Yield is typically low (up to 35%), and the acetamide made this way is generated as a salt with HCl.

Industrial scale

In a similar fashion to some laboratory methods, acetamide is produced by dehydrating ammonium acetate or via the hydration of acetonitrile, a byproduct of the production of acrylonitrile:

CH₃CN + H₂O → CH₃C(O)NH₂

Uses

Acetamide is used as a plasticizer and an industrial solvent. Molten acetamide is good solvent with a broad range of applicability. Notably, its dielectric constant is higher than most organic solvents, allowing it to dissolve inorganic compounds with solubilities closely analogous to that of water. Acetamide has uses in electrochemistry and the organic synthesis of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and antioxidants for plastics. It is a precursor to thioacetamide.

Occurrence

Acetamide has been detected near the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This finding is potentially significant because acetamide has an amide bond, similar to the essential bond between amino acids in proteins. This finding lends support to the theory that organic molecules that can lead to life (as we know it on Earth) can form in space.

On 30 July 2015, scientists reported that upon the first touchdown of the Philae lander on comet 67/P's surface, measurements by the COSAC and Ptolemy instruments revealed sixteen organic compounds, four of which – acetamide, acetone, methyl isocyanate, and propionaldehyde – were seen for the first time on a comet.

In addition, acetamide is found infrequently on burning coal dumps, as a mineral of the same name.

References

"Front Matter". Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry : IUPAC Recommendations and Preferred Names 2013 (Blue Book). Cambridge: The Royal Society of Chemistry. 2014. p. 841. doi:10.1039/9781849733069-FP001. ISBN 978-0-85404-182-4.
^ The Merck Index, 14th Edition, 36
Haynes, William M., ed. (2016). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (97th ed.). CRC Press. pp. 5–88. ISBN 9781498754293.
John Rumble (June 18, 2018). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (99th ed.). CRC Press. pp. 5–3. ISBN 978-1138561632.
^ Cheung, H.; Tanke, R. S.; Torrence, G. P. "Acetic Acid". Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. doi:10.1002/14356007.a01_045.pub2. ISBN 978-3527306732.
Mindat: Naturally occurring acetamide
Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA-CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43. S2CID 235729616.
Bats, Jan W.; Haberecht, Monika C.; Wagner, Matthias (2003). "A new refinement of the orthorhombic polymorph of acetamide". Acta Crystallographica Section E. 59 (10): o1483–o1485. doi:10.1107/S1600536803019494.
Coleman, G. H.; Alvarado, A. M. (1923). "Acetamide". Organic Syntheses. 3: 3. doi:10.15227/orgsyn.003.0003; Collected Volumes, vol. 1, p. 3.
Schwoegler, Edward J.; Adkins, Homer (1939). "Preparation of Certain Amines". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 61 (12): 3499–3502. doi:10.1021/ja01267a081.
Stafford, O. F. (1933). "Acetamide as a Solvent". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 55 (10): 3987–3988. doi:10.1021/ja01337a011.
Wagner, Frank S. (2002). Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. John Wiley & Sons. doi:10.1002/0471238961.0103052023010714.a02.pub2. ISBN 9780471238966.
Schwarz, G. (1945). "2,4-Dimethylthiazole". Organic Syntheses. 25: 35; Collected Volumes, vol. 3, p. 332.
Hollis, J. M.; Lovas, F. J.; Remijan, A. J.; Jewell, P. R.; Ilyushin, V. V.; Kleiner, I. (2006). "Detection of Acetamide (CH₃CONH₂): The Largest Interstellar Molecule with a Peptide Bond". Astrophys. J. 643 (1): L25–L28. Bibcode:2006ApJ...643L..25H. doi:10.1086/505110.
Jordans, Frank (30 July 2015). "Philae probe finds evidence that comets can be cosmic labs". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
"Science on the Surface of a Comet". European Space Agency. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
Bibring, J.-P.; Taylor, M.G.G.T.; Alexander, C.; Auster, U.; Biele, J.; Finzi, A. Ercoli; Goesmann, F.; Klingehoefer, G.; Kofman, W.; Mottola, S.; Seidenstiker, K.J.; Spohn, T.; Wright, I. (31 July 2015). "Philae's First Days on the Comet - Introduction to Special Issue". Science. 349 (6247): 493. Bibcode:2015Sci...349..493B. doi:10.1126/science.aac5116. PMID 26228139.
"Acetamide". Mindat.org.
"Acetamide" (PDF). Handbook of Mineralogy. RRUFF Project.

External links

International Chemical Safety Card 0233
"Acetamide". Webmineral.org.

Molecules detected in outer space

Molecules

Diatomic	Aluminium monochloride Aluminium monofluoride Aluminium(II) oxide Argonium Carbon cation Carbon monophosphide Carbon monosulfide Carbon monoxide Cyano radical Diatomic carbon Fluoromethylidynium Helium hydride ion Hydrogen chloride Hydrogen fluoride Hydrogen (molecular) Hydroxyl radical Iron(II) oxide Magnesium monohydride Methylidyne radical Nitric oxide Nitrogen (molecular) Imidogen Sulfur mononitride Oxygen (molecular) Phosphorus monoxide Phosphorus mononitride Potassium chloride Silicon carbide Silicon monoxide Silicon monosulfide Sodium chloride Sodium iodide Sulfanyl Sulfur monoxide Titanium(II) oxide
Triatomic	Aluminium(I) hydroxide Aluminium isocyanide Amino radical Carbon dioxide Carbonyl sulfide CCP radical Chloronium Diazenylium Dicarbon monoxide Disilicon carbide Ethynyl radical Formyl radical Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) Hydrogen isocyanide (HNC) Hydrogen sulfide Hydroperoxyl Iron cyanide Isoformyl Magnesium cyanide Magnesium isocyanide Methylene N₂H Nitrous oxide Nitroxyl Ozone Methylidynephosphane Potassium cyanide Trihydrogen cation Sodium cyanide Sodium hydroxide Silicon carbonitride c-Silicon dicarbide SiNC Sulfur dioxide Thioformyl Thioxoethenylidene Titanium dioxide Tricarbon Water
Four atoms	Acetylene Ammonia Isocyanic acid Cyanoethynyl Formaldehyde Fulminic acid HCCN Hydrogen peroxide Hydromagnesium isocyanide Isocyanic acid Isothiocyanic acid Ketenyl Methylene amidogen Methyl cation Methyl radical Propynylidyne Protonated carbon dioxide Protonated hydrogen cyanide Silicon tricarbide Thioformaldehyde Tricarbon monoxide Tricarbon monosulfide Thiocyanic acid
Five atoms	Ammonium ion Butadiynyl Carbodiimide Cyanamide Cyanoacetylene Cyanoformaldehyde Cyanomethyl Cyclopropenylidene Formic acid Isocyanoacetylene Ketene Methane Methoxy radical Methylenimine Propadienylidene Protonated formaldehyde Silane Silicon-carbide cluster
Six atoms	Acetonitrile Cyanobutadiynyl radical E-Cyanomethanimine Cyclopropenone Diacetylene Ethylene Formamide HC₄N Ketenimine Methanethiol Methanol Methyl isocyanide Pentynylidyne Propynal Protonated cyanoacetylene
Seven atoms	Acetaldehyde Acrylonitrile Vinyl cyanide Cyanodiacetylene Ethylene oxide Glycolonitrile Hexatriynyl radical Propyne Methylamine Methyl isocyanate Vinyl alcohol
Eight atoms	Acetic acid Aminoacetonitrile Cyanoallene Ethanimine Glycolaldehyde Hexapentaenylidene Methylcyanoacetylene Methyl formate Acrolein
Nine atoms	Acetamide Cyanohexatriyne Dimethyl ether Ethanol Methyldiacetylene Octatetraynyl radical Propene Ethanethiol Propionitrile N-Methylformamide
Ten atoms or more	Acetone Benzene Benzonitrile Buckminsterfullerene (C₆₀, C₆₀, fullerene, buckyball) C₇₀ fullerene Cyanodecapentayne Ethylene glycol Ethyl formate Methyl acetate Methyl-cyano-diacetylene Methyltriacetylene Propionaldehyde Butyronitrile Pyrimidine Heptatrienyl radical

Deuterated
molecules

Unconfirmed

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