13.13 Write the reactions of
(ii) aliphatic primary amines with nitrous acid.
When aliphatic primary amines react with nitrous acid to form unstable diazonium salts which on further produces alcohol and hydrochloric acid () with the evolution of dinitrogen gas (
).
The reaction of aliphatic primary amines with nitrous acid is an analytical tool used to identify free primary amino groups in proteins and amino acids.
Nitrous acid is an unstable, moderate strength Brønsted acid (pK = 3.3) that is prepared in situ from NaNO and a mineral acid like HCl.