Naming conventions

For primary amines, where the amine is not the principal characteristic group, the prefix “amino-” is used. For example: 4-aminobenzoic acid where the carboxylic acid is the principal characteristic. Otherwise, the suffix “-amine” is used with with either the parent hybride or the R group substituent name. Example: ethanamine or ethylamine. Alternatively, the suffix “-azane” can be appended to the R group substituent name: Example: propylazane.

For secondary, tertiary, and quarternary amines, the naming convention is a bit different, but the suffixes are the same. For symmetrical amines, the “di” or “tri” prefix is used depending on whether there are 2 or 3 substituents. For example, dipropylamine is a secondary amine, and triphenylamine is a tertiary amine. For asymmetric amines, the parent chain gets the “-amine” suffix. This name is then prefixed with “N-” (indicating the nitrogen bond) and the substituent group name, for each substituent, using alphabetic order for tertiary amides. For example, N-ethyl-N-methyl-propylamine, not N-methyl-N-ethyl-propylamine.

To sum up:

• as prefix: “amino-“
• as suffix: “-amine”
• the prefix “N-” shows substitution on the nitrogen atom (in the case of secondary, tertiary and quaternary amines)

Systematic names for some common amines:

methylamine

• Primary amines: ethanamine or ethylamine.
• Secondary amines: dimethylamine
• Tertiary amines: trimethylamine