QUATERNARY AMMONIUM RESEARCH

Reactions for the formation of quaternary ammonium compounds from tertiary arnines using dimethyl carbonate, DMC, as the alkalating agent were studied. During this study it was discovered that little data was available on the methyl carbonate anion; therefore, reactions were run using sodium methoxide and dimethyl carbonate in order to isolate the methyl carbonate anion. The products of these reactions were studied spectrally using FT-IR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Once identified, the methyl carbonate anion was observed to convert to the hydrogen carbonate anion in the presence of water. The anion of methyl carbonate quaternaries can be replaced with the anions of acids. A number of different reactions involving this conversion of the methyl carbonate anion were conducted using various acids.