Amineur

Amineur is a term used in French-language chemical literature to denote a reagent or catalyst capable of introducing an amino group into an organic substrate. The word is built from amine and the suffix -eur, which indicates an agent that performs an action. In English-language texts the corresponding terms are aminating agent or amination reagent.

In practical use, amineurs include a broad range of reagents and catalytic systems that effect amination. These may deliver an NH2 or NR2 group to a substrate or enable installation of nitrogen-containing functionalities through various pathways such as nitrene transfer, electrophilic amination, or catalytic C–H amination. The choice of amineur depends on factors such as substrate structure, regioselectivity, and functional-group compatibility.

Although still encountered in some French publications, the term amineur is less common in contemporary English-language literature. The concept is generally described by the phrase aminating agent or amination reagent, and in many contexts the reagent class is identified by the mechanism or the nitrogen-containing group transferred.

Applications of amination methods span pharmaceutical synthesis, agrochemicals, and material science, where installation of amino groups enables the formation of aniline derivatives, amino alcohols, and other nitrogen-containing compounds.