Amines are organic compounds and functional groups that contain a basic nitrogen atom with a lone pair. Amines are derivatives of ammonia, wherein one or morehydrogen atoms have been replaced by a substituent such as an alkyl or aryl group.[1] Important amines include amino acids, biogenic amines, trimethylamine, and aniline; see Category:Amines for a list of amines. Inorganic derivatives of ammonia are also called amines, such as chloramine (NClH2).
Compounds with the nitrogen atom attached to a carbonyl of the structure R-C(=O)NR’R’’ are called amides and have different chemical properties from amines.