Dimethylamine

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A colorless, flammable gas with a fishy odor; an organic compound derived from ammonia by replacing two hydrogen atoms with methyl groups; commonly used in chemical synthesis and industrial applications
2. An organic chemical characterized by two methyl groups attached to an amine nitrogen; a volatile, basic gas emitting a strong, ammoniacal smell; employed as a precursor in manufacturing pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals
3. A gaseous compound consisting of a nitrogen atom bonded to two methyl groups, noted for its pungent smell and flammability; serves as a building block in organic chemistry and production of various chemicals

Etymology: Dimethylamine is a textbook coinage, built from pieces that were each named in the nineteenth century. "Amine" comes from "ammonia," which takes its name from the Temple of Jupiter Ammon in Libya, where ammonium chloride was collected in antiquity. Chemists in the 1800s used the suffix "-amine" for nitrogen compounds in which hydrogen atoms in ammonia had been replaced by carbon-based groups, and "methyl" comes from "methylene," itself built from the Greek "methy," meaning wine, and "hyle," meaning wood, because the substance was first isolated from wood spirit, or distilled wood alcohol. "Di-" is the ordinary Greek prefix for two, so the name simply says that two methyl groups are attached to the nitrogen. The name therefore describes the molecule's structure in the same systematic way that chemists name any compound, rather than recording a discovery story. Its first preparation is usually attributed to the chemist Wilhelm Hofmann and his colleagues in the mid-nineteenth century, when the systematic amine nomenclature was being worked out.