Amongst the following listed organic nitrogen compounds, which one acts as the strongest base in an — Amines Chemistry Question
Question
Amongst the following listed organic nitrogen compounds, which one acts as the strongest base in an aqueous medium?
💡 Solution & Explanation
Acetanilide, Aniline, and p-Nitroaniline all feature a nitrogen atom whose lone pair is delocalized extensively via resonance (either into the adjacent carbonyl group for amides or the benzene $\pi$ -system for anilines), significantly reducing available electron density and basicity. Benzylamine ($C_6H_5CH_2NH_2$) contains an insulating $sp^3$ hybridized carbon separating the aromatic ring from the amine group, totally preventing resonance. It behaves thermodynamically like an aliphatic amine and is the most basic.