The easiest way to think of amines is as near relatives of ammonia, NH3.

In amines, the hydrogen atoms in the ammonia have been replaced one at a time by hydrocarbon groups. On this page, we are only looking at cases where the hydrocarbon groups are simple alkyl groups.

Primary aromatic amines are used as a starting material for the manufacture of azo dyes. It reacts with nitrous acid to form diazonium salt, which can undergo coupling reaction to form an azo compound. As azo-compounds are highly coloured, they are widely used in dyeing industries, such as: Methyl orange.