Aniline

Ball-and-stick model of aniline. The black balls are carbon, the white balls are hydrogen, and the blue ball is nitrogen. The dotted line shows the benzene ring.

Aniline is an organic compound with the formula C₆H₅NH₂. It is a benzene ring where one of the hydrogen atoms has been replaced by an amine functional group. Because of this, it is also called aminobenzene.

More generally, anilines are any chemical with an amino group on a benzene ring. As a functional group, C₆H₅NH− is called anilino.

Production

In the chemical industry, aniline is produced by the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene.

Uses

Aniline is an important commodity chemical. A major use for aniline is the preparation of methylenediamine, which is made from aniline and formaldehyde, and then reacts with phosgene to make methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), one of the main monomers in polyurethane.