3,3′-N,N′-Bis(amino)-2,2′-bipyridine — An unusually methylation-resistant amine

Abstract

Methylation of aromatic amino groups is usually straightforward, but the formation of two intramolecular hydrogen bonds in 3,3′-N,N′-bis(amino)-2,2′-bipyridine and (or) the potential for ring methylation prevents the clean tetramethylation of this molecule. Numerous attempts to make 3,3′-N,N′-bis(dimethylamino)-2,2′-bipyridine produced only complex mixtures of variously methylated products, and the only isolated molecule was 3,3′-N,N′-bis(methylamino)-2,2′-bipyridine, for which an X-ray crystal structure was obtained.