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Individual C1-C6 alkyl monoamines (RNH2, R2NH, R3N) are used primarily as intermediates for a variety of important industrial products. In a few instances, the amines are used directly as corrosion inhibitors. Products covered in this report are purely alkylamines and not products that contain heteroatoms such as the alkanolamines. End-use products based on alkylamines include pesticides, solvents, water treating chemicals and rubber processing chemicals. The only significant similarity among the various alkylamines is that they are all amines, but each individual amine has its own set of applications.
The following pie chart shows world consumption of alkylamines in 2004:
The United States and Europe are the major producing and consuming regions for alkylamines. World consumption in 2004 amounted to more than 610 thousand metric tons.
Consumption of alkylamines can fluctuate annually, especially as related to varying production of pesticides. Some amines, such as isopropylamine from the United States and methylamines from Canada, have rather large export volumes; however, international trade is not a major factor in alkylamines generally. Several amine derivatives have substantial export volumes; examples are N-methylpyrrolidone and dimethylformamide.
Most applications for alkylamines are well established, and rapid growth is not expected for any individual amines in the near future. The rapid expansion of isopropylamine demand for glyphosate salt manufacture to be used on resistant crops will be delayed until consumer sentiment changes toward genetically engineered foods. Water treatment chemicals are an expanding application for dimethylamine. Worldwide growth in alkylamine demand should average a modest 2–3% annually from 2005 through 2009.
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