Amine Structure

Nitrogen has 5 valence electrons and so is trivalent with a lone pair. As per VSEPR theory, nitrogen present in amines is sp³ hybridized and due to the presence of lone a pair, it is pyramidal instead of tetrahedral shape which is a general structure for most sp³ hybridized molecules. Each of the three sp3 hybridized orbitals of nitrogen overlap with orbitals of hydrogen or carbon depending upon the configuration of amines. Due to the presence of a lone pair, the C-N-H angle in amines is less than 109 degrees which is a characteristic angle of tetrahedral geometry. The angle of amines is near about 107 degrees.

Occurrence of Amines

Naturally, amines occur in proteins, vitamins, hormones, etc. and they are also prepared synthetically to make polymers, drugs, and dyes.