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Chemical Properties: Methylamine is a colorless gas and a derivative of ammonia, with one hydrogen atom being replaced by a methyl group. It is the simplest primary amine and is sold as a solution in methanol, ethanol, tetrahydrofuran, or water, or as an anhydrous gas in pressurized metal containers. Industrially, it is transported buy methylamine in its anhydrous form in pressurized railcars and tank trailers. It has a strong odor similar to rotten fish.
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Reactivity and Applications: Methylamine is a good nucleophile and is considered a weak base. Its use in organic chemistry is pervasive, and it is used as a building block for the synthesis of numerous other commercially available compounds. Some reactions involving simple reagents include its reaction with phosgene to form methyl isocyanate, with carbon disulfide and sodium hydroxide to form sodium methyldithiocarbamate, with chloroform and base to form methyl isocyanide, and with ethylene oxide to produce methylethanolamines.
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Environmental Interactions: Methylamine will exist solely as a gas in the atmosphere and is expected to have moderate mobility through soil. It degrades by reaction with hydroxyl radicals and interacts with ozone. Biodegradation is an important fate process in both soil and water.
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Biological Interactions: Methylamine, a short aliphatic amine present in mammals, derives from the endogenous deamination of adrenaline, sarcosine, creatinine, and lecithin, or from food and drink. It is noted to be hypophagic in mice, and its interaction with intrinsic and extrinsic subunits of chloroplasts' photosystem II has been studied.
These insights provide an overview of the chemical properties, reactivity, environmental interactions, and biological interactions of methylamine.