Carbylamine

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A pungent volatile compound produced by the reaction of a primary amine with chloroform and a base, characterized by an extremely disagreeable odor
2. A malodorous chemical substance formed when isocyanides are generated, notable for its intensely repellent smell used in laboratory testing and synthesis
3. A noisome organic product arising from the interaction of amines with chloroform under alkaline conditions, distinguished by its powerfully offensive smell

Etymology: Carbylamine is an older chemists' name for compounds now called isocyanides, in which a nitrogen atom is bonded to a carbon atom by a triple bond. The name blends three parts: "carbon," the element; "-yl," the suffix chemists used for groups of atoms derived from hydrocarbons, as in "methyl" and "ethyl"; and "amine," the family of nitrogen compounds related to ammonia. Together they describe a carbon-containing group attached to an amine-like nitrogen. The name became attached to these compounds through the reaction that identified them. Heating a primary amine with chloroform and an alkali produces a product with a powerful, unpleasant odor, and this reaction became a classic test for primary amines. The reaction is still called the carbylamine reaction, so the name survives in laboratory practice even though "isocyanide" is now the standard term for the compounds themselves.

Synonyms: isocyanide