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Why are amines soluble in HCl?

Answer 1

Because of the acid base reaction:

#R_3N(aq) + HCl(aq) rarr R_3N*H^+Cl^(-)(aq)#

The amine is now a salt and is in principle water soluble (a quaternary ammonium salt is formulated as #R_4N^+#). Another way to describe the product is as trialkylamine hydrochloride, #R_3N*HCl#; in both instances the nitrogen is quaternized. In organic synthesis, this basicity often allows the separation of amine products into the aqueous phase (as the salt), prior to treatment with conc. hydroxide and extraction into an organic phase as the parent amine.

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Answer 2

Skylar Alexander

Amines react with HCl to form ammonium salts, which are soluble in water due to ion-dipole interactions.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.