N,N-Diethyl-m-Toluidine
N,N-Diethyl-m-Toluidine — DEMT — carries two structural features that matter commercially at the same time: a nitrogen fully alkylated with two ethyl groups, and a methyl group in the meta position. The first makes it a strongly nucleophilic tertiary amine; the second steers substitution and gives the dye chemist a different substitution pattern from the plain N,N-dialkylanilines.
Chelora Chemicals supplies DEMT to dye and pigment manufacturers, adhesive and acrylic resin formulators and fine chemical producers worldwide, in drums and bulk, with a batch COA and GHS safety data sheet on every consignment.
Product identity
- CAS Number
- 91-67-8
- IUPAC name
- N,N-Diethyl-3-methylaniline
- Molecular formula
- C11H17N
- Molecular weight
- 163.26 g/mol
- EC / EINECS
- 202-090-9
- Synonyms
- DEMT · 3-(Diethylamino)toluene
- SMILES
- CCN(CC)c1cccc(C)c1
- HS Code
- 2921 49*
* Confirm the exact HS heading with your customs broker — N-alkylated toluidine derivatives can sit under a different subheading from the simple anilines depending on the destination tariff schedule.
What N,N-Diethyl-m-Toluidine is used for
DEMT is a toluidine — an aniline with a ring methyl — whose nitrogen has been fully alkylated with two ethyl groups. Both substituents push electron density into the ring, so the molecule is a strongly activated aromatic with no N-H left to functionalise. Its chemistry therefore runs through the ring, and the meta methyl group defines which positions are open.
The main commercial outlets are dye and pigment synthesis, where m-dialkylaminotoluene fragments appear across xanthene, triarylmethane and azo chemistry, and radical cure chemistry, where tertiary aromatic amines act as reducing partners for peroxide initiators and allow acrylic and methacrylate systems to set at room temperature. A third stream of demand comes from fine chemical and agrochemical producers who need the specific substitution pattern as a building block.
Why the isomer and the alkyl group both matter
Within the N-alkylated toluidine family, small structural changes are categorical rather than incremental:
- N,N-Diethyl-m-toluidine (CAS 91-67-8) — this product. Tertiary amine, methyl at the 3-position, two ethyl groups on nitrogen.
- N,N-Diethyl-p-toluidine (CAS 613-48-9) — the para isomer, the grade most often written into acrylic bone cement and dental formulations.
- N-Ethyl-m-toluidine (CAS 102-27-2) — a secondary amine with one ethyl group; it retains an N-H and behaves quite differently. See that page.
- N,N-Dimethylaniline (CAS 121-69-7) — no ring methyl, two methyls on nitrogen. See that page.
If your route calls for a specific isomer, put the CAS number on the purchase order. We supply the related N-alkylaniline and N-alkyltoluidine range as well — see the full intermediate range.
Appearance and handling character
DEMT ships as a colourless to pale yellow or amber clear liquid, liquid through the whole normal ambient range, insoluble in water and miscible with common organic solvents such as alcohols, acetone and ether. Like all aromatic amines it darkens on exposure to air and light, which is why colour-critical users specify an APHA ceiling and nitrogen-blanketed packing. It is harmful by the oral, dermal and inhalation routes and should be handled on the assumption that it is absorbed through intact skin.
| Parameter | Typical value |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Colourless to pale yellow clear liquid |
| Assay (GC) | 99.0% min |
| Moisture (KF) | 0.3% max |
| Colour (APHA) | Reported per batch |
| Isomer content | Reported per batch |
| Residual mono-ethyl / free toluidine | Reported per batch |
Important: the figures above are indicative of commercial grade material and are offered for planning only. The batch certificate of analysis is the governing document. If your process demands a tighter colour ceiling, a controlled moisture figure or an isomer limit, send us the specification and we will quote against it rather than against a generic grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Physical state | Liquid at ambient |
| Boiling point | ≈ 229 – 232 °C @ 760 mmHg |
| Flash point | ≈ 93 – 100 °C |
| Relative density | ≈ 0.92 – 0.93 |
| Refractive index | ≈ 1.538 – 1.543 |
| Water solubility | Practically insoluble |
| Organic solubility | Miscible with alcohol, acetone, ether, aromatic solvents |
| Vapour pressure | Low at ambient |
Physical constants compiled from public reference data for CAS 91-67-8 and rounded for readability. Treat them as orientation, not as a specification.
Where our customers put this molecule to work
A strongly activated ring, a tertiary nitrogen and a meta methyl group give DEMT two separate commercial lives — colour chemistry and cure chemistry — plus a steady stream of fine chemical use.
Dye intermediate chemistry
Dialkylaminotoluene fragments are a recurring motif across xanthene, triarylmethane and azo dye routes. The ring methyl shifts shade and solubility relative to the plain dialkylaniline, which is often exactly why a dye house specifies the toluidine.
- Basic and solvent dye synthesis
- Shade consistency tracks feed colour
- See our dye intermediate range
Acrylic cure accelerator
Tertiary aromatic amines reduce peroxide initiators to generate free radicals at ambient temperature. That is the mechanism behind two-part acrylic adhesives, anaerobic threadlockers and cold-cure acrylic resin systems.
- Redox accelerator with peroxide initiators
- Ambient-cure acrylic and methacrylate systems
- Trace-level formulation ingredient
Pigment & colourant synthesis
Beyond soluble dyes, the same fragment appears in pigment routes where a strongly electron-rich aromatic is coupled or condensed into a larger chromophore.
- Organic pigment intermediates
- Tight residual-amine limits usually apply
- Custom specification quoted on request
Agrochemical & fine chemical routes
Specialty synthesis routes use DEMT where an activated, methyl-substituted aromatic ring is needed as a building block for a larger molecule.
- Custom synthesis quantities available
- Technical desk review of your route
- See the full intermediate range
Laboratory & development use
Research groups and formulation laboratories use small quantities while developing new cure systems or evaluating alternative amine accelerators against an existing benchmark.
- Reagent-grade material on request
- Small pack sizes available
- Full analytical documentation available
Contract & scheduled supply
Dye houses and adhesive plants run to production campaign, not to a calendar month. Most DEMT buyers want tonnage released against a production plan rather than in one shipment. We hold inventory and release it to your schedule.
- Annual contracts with scheduled call-off
- Price held across the contract period
- Second source held in reserve
How we supply N,N-Diethyl-m-Toluidine
Chelora Chemicals is a supplier and sourcing partner, not a manufacturer. We own no alkylation plant — and on a product where isomer purity and colour decide whether the material works in your process, that independence lets us route your order to a source that actually matches your specification.
We place your order with whichever qualified producer best matches your assay, your colour requirement, your price point and your delivery window.
We keep a second qualified source on this line. When a plant goes down for maintenance, your campaign switches source rather than stalling.
- Isomer confirmed before we quote. We check that you need 91-67-8 and not the para isomer or a mono-alkylated toluidine — the single most common source of a wasted shipment on this line.
- Batch COA shared before dispatch. You approve assay, colour and moisture against your own spec while the material is still in our warehouse.
- Colour protected in packing. Where shade matters, we arrange nitrogen-blanketed drums and lined containers so the material you qualified is the material that arrives.
- Hazard status stated up front. Harmful by oral, dermal and inhalation routes and absorbed through skin — we say so at enquiry stage, not in the small print of a document pack.
- Pre-shipment samples for qualification. New account or new source, your laboratory runs a trial before the full quantity ever moves.
- Export machinery handled in-house. Hazard classification, UN-approved packing, labelling, freight booking and customs paperwork are ours to manage.
Packed the way your plant receives it
Pack format drives your landed cost and your handling effort. Tell us how the material will be charged at your end and we will quote the format that suits your operation.
MS / HDPE-lined drums
UN-certified drums, the standard format for LCL and smaller commercial movements. Nitrogen blanketing on request where colour matters.
IBC totes
Intermediate bulk containers for full-container liquid loads, reducing packing cost per litre for high-volume users.
Bulk isotainer
For contracted campaign tonnage, bulk isotank shipment offers the lowest cost per kilo and the least handling exposure.
Samples & trial packs
Laboratory samples and pilot quantities dispatched by courier so your formulation team can qualify the grade before committing to volume.
Incoterms to suit you
Quoted on the Incoterm your purchasing team works to. Ocean, air and road freight arranged end-to-end with documentation filed before booking.
Campaign despatch
Dye and adhesive production runs to campaign. We hold contracted tonnage and release it against your production calendar instead of landing it all at once.
Treat it as a skin-absorbed aromatic amine
N,N-Diethyl-m-Toluidine is harmful by the oral, dermal and inhalation routes and is hazardous to the aquatic environment. The summary below is orientation only — the safety data sheet supplied with your consignment is the authoritative document and should govern your risk assessment, PPE selection, exposure monitoring and emergency planning.
Classified hazards
H302Harmful if swallowed.H312Harmful in contact with skin.H332Harmful if inhaled.H319Causes serious eye irritation.H411Toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects.
Hazard statements reflect classifications commonly published for CAS 91-67-8. Some suppliers additionally list organ-toxicity entries, and aromatic amines as a class are associated with methaemoglobin formation on significant exposure. Always read the SDS issued with your specific batch.
Spill & emergency orientation
Plan your response before the drum arrives, not after a valve leaks. The points below are orientation for your emergency planners — sections 4, 5 and 6 of the SDS are the authoritative instructions and should be posted at the point of use.
- Contain, do not hose to drain. The material is toxic to aquatic life. Absorb with inert material and collect into a labelled container for licensed disposal.
- Assume skin absorption. Contaminated clothing is a continuing exposure route — remove it immediately and wash the skin thoroughly with soap and water.
- Watch for delayed signs. Aromatic amines can cause methaemoglobinaemia, which may present some time after exposure. A casualty who feels fine should still be assessed.
- Have the SDS with the casualty. The treating clinician needs the product identity and CAS number in hand.
- Ventilate before re-entry. Vapour is heavier than air and collects in pits, sumps and low corners of a bunded area.
Storage
- Cool, dry, well-ventilated store, out of direct sunlight and away from heat and ignition sources.
- Keep containers tightly closed and preferably under nitrogen. Air and light drive colour drift, and an open drum also picks up moisture that affects cure-sensitive applications.
- Segregate from oxidising agents, strong acids and acid chlorides. As a tertiary amine it still reacts exothermically with strong oxidisers.
- Bunded, sealed floor. Aquatic toxicity means spill containment is a control measure, not an administrative nicety.
- Shelf life is typically 12–24 months in sealed original packing under these conditions. Re-assay before use after long storage.
Handling & PPE
- Design exposure out, do not manage it down. Closed transfer and mechanical pumping first, local exhaust ventilation second, PPE last.
- Skin protection is the priority. Aromatic amines of this type pass through intact skin — chemical-resistant gloves and coveralls, not just splash protection.
- Respiratory protection where vapour may exceed exposure limits, particularly during drum opening, sampling and transfer, per your own exposure assessment.
- Eye protection as standard — the material is a serious eye irritant.
- Never discharge to drain or watercourse. H411 applies — contain spills and dispose of them as regulated chemical waste.
Transport
DEMT moves as regulated cargo and is normally consigned as a toxic liquid under Class 6.1. We classify each consignment, apply UN-approved packaging and labelling and file the dangerous-goods declaration before the booking is made. The applicable UN number, class and packing group are stated on your shipping documents and SDS — ask us for the current DG paperwork when you plan the shipment.
What travels with every consignment
A chemical shipment is only as good as the file that travels with it. Verifying what the source plant sends is precisely the work you are buying from a supplier.
Certificate of Analysis
Batch-specific assay by GC, moisture, colour and impurity profile — checked against your purchase specification before we release the goods.
GHS Safety Data Sheet
Full 16-section SDS in GHS format covering hazards, exposure controls, handling, storage, spill response, toxicology and disposal — issued in the language your destination requires.
Dangerous Goods Declaration
UN number, hazard class, packing group and IMDG or IATA declaration prepared and filed before the container is booked, with correctly marked and labelled packaging.
Certificate of Origin
Chamber-attested where required, plus preferential-origin forms where a trade agreement gives your import duty relief at the destination.
Third-party inspection
SGS, Intertek or Bureau Veritas sampling and inspection arranged on request before loading, giving you independent verification of what actually ships.
Retained & pre-shipment samples
Pre-shipment samples carry the same COA as the commercial lot, so what your laboratory qualifies is exactly what arrives. Retention samples held against the batch.
A tertiary nitrogen and a ring methyl working together
With no N-H left to functionalise, DEMT's chemistry runs through the aromatic ring, and the meta methyl decides which positions are available. The routes below are the general industrial pattern, not a process disclosure.
Start from the toluidine
m-Toluidine is exhaustively ethylated at nitrogen, giving a tertiary amine with no remaining N-H and a strongly electron-rich ring.
Activate the ring
The diethylamino group directs electrophiles to the positions ortho and para to it, while the meta methyl blocks or biases one of them — the reason the isomer is specified.
Condense or couple
In colour chemistry the activated position is condensed with an aldehyde or coupled with a diazonium salt to build the chromophore.
Or drive a redox cure
In adhesive chemistry the tertiary amine reduces a peroxide, generating radicals that start ambient-temperature polymerisation of acrylic monomers.
Why feed quality carries through the whole route
Because the nitrogen cannot be further functionalised, the impurities that matter are the ones that touch the ring or carry their own reactivity:
- Mono-ethyl and free toluidine residues from incomplete alkylation still carry an N-H, so they react differently in the same coupling or redox step and give inconsistent shade or cure speed.
- Isomeric toluidines carried through from the feed produce a chromophore with the methyl in the wrong place — a shade shift your dye house will see immediately.
- Oxidation products from air exposure are the coloured species behind batch-to-batch colour drift, and they carry into the finished product.
- Residual moisture interferes with condensation efficiency and, in accelerator applications, with cure consistency.
That chain of consequences is the reason we quote against your written specification rather than a generic "technical" grade, and the reason the batch COA is shared for approval before dispatch rather than sent with the invoice.
| Intermediate | Principal outlet |
|---|---|
| N,N-Diethyl-m-toluidine CAS 91-67-8 — this product | Dye & pigment intermediate Acrylic cure accelerator |
| N-Ethyl-m-toluidine CAS 102-27-2 | Secondary amine Dye intermediate chemistry |
| N,N-Dimethylaniline CAS 121-69-7 | Triarylmethane dyes Methacrylate accelerator |
If your route calls for one of the others, we supply those as well — see the full intermediate range. Send the CAS number and we will confirm the correct material before quoting.
What actually moves the price of this intermediate
DEMT is not a commodity with a screen price. Knowing what drives the quote helps you time a purchase and read whether an offer is realistic.
Campaign production
Alkylated toluidines are made in campaigns rather than run continuously. If your enquiry lands between campaigns, the honest answer is a longer lead time — and we will give you that answer rather than a date nobody can hold.
- Quote early for campaign tonnage
- Spot buying off-campaign costs more
- Contracted call-off smooths the exposure
Upstream feedstock
The route runs back through toluene, nitrotoluene and m-toluidine, then ethylation. Movements in toluene, nitration economics and ethylating agent cost feed through within a quarter or so.
- m-Toluidine availability sets the floor
- Energy cost weighs on distillation
- We flag feedstock-driven moves in the quote
Regulatory pressure
Aromatic amine production carries real compliance cost — effluent treatment, exposure monitoring, waste handling. That cost sits inside the price and is one reason capacity has consolidated rather than expanded.
- Handling obligations vary by jurisdiction
- Effluent rules shape plant economics
- We check destination rules before quoting
Colour specification
A tight APHA ceiling narrows the number of plants that can serve you and adds cost in packing and handling. If your route can tolerate standard colour, say so — it is often the cheapest change you can make.
- Colour ceiling narrows the source list
- Nitrogen blanketing adds packing cost
- We will tell you when you are over-specifying
Freight & DG surcharges
This is regulated cargo, so ocean freight carries a hazardous surcharge and space is tighter than for general cargo. Destination and Incoterm move landed cost as much as the ex-works price does.
- Compare on landed cost, not ex-works
- DG space books out ahead of peak season
- We quote FOB, CIF, CFR or DDP as you prefer
Source availability
A plant turnaround, an environmental inspection or a monsoon disruption can take capacity offline at short notice. Single-sourced buyers feel this hardest.
- We hold a second qualified source on this line
- Qualify the alternate before you need it
- Ask us about dual-source contracts
| If your end use is… | Specify |
|---|---|
| Dye & pigment synthesis | Colour ceiling, isomer limit, low free toluidine |
| Acrylic cure accelerator | Consistent assay; low moisture for reliable cure speed |
| Regulated formulation | Full impurity profile; source locked after qualification |
| Custom synthesis | Assay and residual-amine limits set by your route |
| Laboratory / R&D | Small pack, high purity, fast despatch |
Not sure which column you are in? Describe the reaction or formulation you are running and our technical desk will recommend the grade — including telling you when a cheaper specification would do the job just as well.
Support that goes beyond shipping the drum
What our technical desk will do
- Confirm the isomer before anything else. Meta or para, mono- or di-alkylated — we settle that in the first reply, because it is where this product line goes wrong most often.
- Match a grade to your process. Tell us whether you are running a coupling, a condensation or a redox cure and we will recommend the specification accordingly.
- Be straight about the hazard profile. We state the skin-absorption and aquatic-toxicity classifications at enquiry stage so your EHS team can price the controls into the decision.
- Review your specification before it goes into a contract, so you are not locked into a limit that no plant can consistently hit.
Regulatory & compliance notes
- Aromatic amine obligations are jurisdiction-specific. Several regimes impose exposure monitoring, health surveillance and record retention for this class of material. Confirm what applies at your site before the first delivery.
- Import controls vary by destination. We check the destination rules before quoting, not after you have raised the PO.
- Chemical inventory listings differ between regions. Confirm your obligations under the applicable inventory regime for your import volume — we will supply the identity data you need for that filing.
- Effluent and waste rules matter because of the aquatic classification. Your site's discharge consent should be checked against the material before it is introduced.
None of the above is legal advice — your own regulatory affairs team owns the final compliance position for your import and your workplace. What we commit to is giving you accurate product identity data, an honest statement of the hazard classification and complete documentation to work from.
From enquiry to delivered pallet
Send the specification
Product name or CAS 91-67-8, the assay and colour limits you work to, quantity, pack preference and destination port.
Receive a firm quote
Pricing, lead time, packing and Incoterm confirmed in writing within 24 hours — our sourcing desk is staffed around the clock.
Qualify and approve
Sample dispatched if you are qualifying a new source. Batch COA shared for your approval before the material is released.
Ship and track
DG classification filed, freight booked, export documents issued, and the consignment tracked through transit and clearance to your plant.
Others in the Chelora range
What buyers ask us about N,N-Diethyl-m-Toluidine
How is this different from the para isomer?
What purity do you normally supply?
Why does the material darken during storage?
What is the minimum order quantity?
How long does delivery take?
How should we store it, and what is the shelf life?
Is this a dangerous good? What paperwork comes with it?
- Batch certificate of analysis
- GHS-format safety data sheet
- Dangerous-goods declaration with UN number, class and packing group
- Commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading or airway bill
- Certificate of origin and any destination-specific forms
Do you supply to my country?
Can you support a regulated formulation dossier?
Do you manufacture this yourself?
Request pricing on N,N-Diethyl-m-Toluidine
Send your required assay, colour ceiling, quantity, pack format and destination port. Our sourcing desk is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and comes back with pricing, lead time and packing options — whether that is a single trial pack or a contracted isotank programme for the year.