Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Enamine
Introduction
An enamine is an unsaturated compound derived by the reaction of an aldehyde or ketone with a secondary amine followed by loss of H2O.
The word “enamine” is apparently derived from the prefix en-, used as the suffix of alkene, and the root amine. Compare with enol, which is a molecule containing both alkene (en-) and alcohol (-ol).
If one of the nitrogen substituents is H, it is the tautomeric form of an imine. This usually will rearrange to the imine; however there are several exceptions (such as aniline). The enamine-imine tautormerism may be considered analogous to the keto-enol tautomerism. In both cases, a hydrogen atom switches its location between the heteroatom (oxygen or nitrogen) and the second carbon atom.
Form
Form
<math>R_2C=CR-NR_2</math>