Reaction of Amines with NO at room temperature and atmospheric pressure: is nitroxyl a reaction intermediate?

The novelty of this work lies in the experimental confirmation that alkylamines react with Nitric oxide (NO) in aqueous solution at room temperature and atmospheric pressure conditions releasing HNO. We combined spectroscopic, electrochemical, and kinetic techniques to describe the reactions intermediates and characterized end products determined by UV-vis, NMR, and GC-MS. Nitrosamine and propene were detected for the reactions of diethylamine and isopropylamine, showing differential mechanisms between primary and secondary alkylamines. Finally, mechanistic analysis using ab-initio methods was performed and compared with the molecular mechanism proposed for the decomposition of NONOates. The results are discussed in the context of the growing interest in the NO/HNO interconversion reactions, required to understand their overlapping and different reactivity.