Trimethylamine

Definitions

  • Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • n Trimethylamine (Chem) A colorless volatile alkaline liquid, N.(CH3)3, obtained from herring brine, beet roots, etc., with a characteristic herringlike odor. It is regarded as a substituted ammonia containing three methyl groups.
    • ***
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    • n trimethylamine A substituted ammonia in which the three hydrogen atoms are replaced by methyl, N(CH3)3. It is prepared from herring-brine, or more commonly from a waste product of the beet-sugar manufacture, and is a volatile liquid soluble in water, and having a penetrating fish-like odor. It has been used in medicine for the treatment of rheumatism.
    • ***
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • n Trimethylamine an organic base resembling ammonia in some of its properties, and having a strong herring-brine odour—incorrectly called propylamine
    • ***

Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Trimethyl-, + amine,

Usage

In literature:

On distilling with alkali they obtained ammonia and a trace of trimethylamine.
"Barium, A Cause of the Loco-Weed Disease" by Albert Cornelius Crawford
***

Related words