Team:AUC Turkey/Project/TMA

TMA

William shakespeare had described the fish odor syndrome in his work of art,'the tempest':

Here's neither bush nor shrub, to bear off any weather at all, and another storm brewing;I hear it sing i' the wind: yond same black cloud, yond huge one, looks like a foul bombard that would shed his liquor. If it should thunder as it did before, I know not where to hide my head: yond same cloud cannot choose but fall by pailfuls. What have we here? a man or a fish? dead or alive? A fish: he smells like a fish; a very ancient and fishlike smell; a kind of not of the newest PoorJohn. A strange fish! Were I in England now,as once I was, and had but this fish painted,not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver: there would this monster make a man; any strange beast there makes a man: when they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lazy out ten to see a dead Indian. Legged like a man and his fins like arms! Warm o' my troth! I do now let loose my opinion; hold it no longer: this is no fish, but an islander, that hath lately suffered by a thunderbolt.

Trimethylamine is an organic compound with the formula N(CH3)3. This colorless, hygroscopic, and flammable tertiary amine has a strong "fishy" odor in low concentrations and an ammonia-like odor at higher concentrations. It is a gas at room temperature but is usually sold in pressurized gas cylinders or as a 40% solution in water.

Trimethylamine is a product of decomposition of plants and animals. It is the substance mainly responsible for the odor often associated with fouling fish, some infections, and bad breath. It is also associated with taking large doses of choline and carnitine.

Trimethylamine is a nitrogenous base and can be readily protonated to give trimethylammonium cation. Trimethylammonium chloride is a hygroscopic colorless solid prepared from hydrochloric acid. Trimethylamine is a good nucleophile, and this reaction is the basis of most of its applications.

Applications

Trimethylamine is used in the synthesis of choline, tetramethylammonium hydroxide, plant growth regulators, strongly basic anion exchange resins, dye leveling agents and a number of basic dyes.[2][4] Gas sensors to test for fish freshness detect trimethylamine.

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