Question

Why ammonolysis of alkyl halides is not a good method to prepare pure amines?

Hint:

To avoid a mixture of amines, methods like Gabriel synthesis are preferred to prepare primary amines.

Answer 1

Ammonolysis of alkyl halides leads to a mixture of primary, secondary, and tertiary amines due to the possibility of further reactions. The primary amine formed can react with excess alkyl halide, resulting in the formation of secondary and tertiary amines, making it difficult to isolate pure amines. Thus, ammonolysis is not an efficient method for preparing pure amines.