In order to prepare a 1° amine from an alkyl halide with simultaneous addition of one CH2 group in the carbon chain, the reagent used as source of nitrogen is ___________.


When alkyl halide is heated under reflux with a solution of potassium cyanide in ethanolic medium, the halogen is replaced by a -CN group and a nitrile is produced.; here the N required comes from KCN.


This is a very important reaction for obtaining some compounds like amine. The nitrile formed can be converted to a primary amine by treating it with LiAlH4 or Na/C2H5OH reagents.


CH3CH2CH2Br + CN- CH3CH2CH2CN + Br-


CH3CH2CH2Br + KCN CH3CH2CH2CN + KBr


Hence the source of N is KCN and other 3 options (i) Sodium amide, NaNH2


(ii) Sodium azide, NaN3 (iv) Potassium phthalimide, C6H4(CO)2N- K+ are entirely wrong

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