Everything about Quaternary Ammonium Cation totally explained
Quaternary ammonium cations, also known as
quats, are positively
charged polyatomic ions of the structure NR
4+ with R being
alkyl groups. Unlike the
ammonium ion NH
4+ itself and primary, secondary, or tertiary ammonium
cations, the quaternary ammonium cations are permanently charged, independent of the
pH of their solution. Quaternary ammonium cations are
synthesized by complete
alkylation of
ammonia or other
amines. For possible synthesis route, see
amines.
Quaternary ammonium salts or
quaternary ammonium compounds (called
quaternary amines in oilfield parlance) are
salts of quaternary ammonium cations with an
anion. They are used as
disinfectants,
surfactants,
fabric softeners, and as
antistatic agents (for example in
shampoo). In
liquid fabric softeners, the
chloride salts are often used. In
dryer anticling strips, the
sulfate salts are often used. This is also a common ingredient in many spermicidal jellies.
In organic chemistry, quaternary ammonium salts are used as
phase transfer catalysts for reactions involving immiscible solvent systems, such as the synthesis of dichloro
carbenes with chloroform and sodium hydroxide.
The synthesis of this cation from ammonia is referred to as
quaternization.
Through exhaustive methylation, or the
Hofmann Elimination process, a quaternary ammonium iodide salt is formed. The alpha-carbon (relative to the nitrogen) is deprotonated once by a hydroxide anion from H
2O and the electrons form an alkene. Subsequently, the electrons from the carbon-nitrogen bond are pushed onto the nitrogen. This sets up a tertiary amine as the leaving group.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Quaternary Ammonium Cation'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://quaternary_ammonium_cation.totallyexplained.com">Quaternary ammonium cation Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
