Ethylenediamine is a strongly basic amine useful as a building block in chemical synthesis. It is used as a solvent to dissolve proteins such as albumins and casein. It is widely used for color photography developers, binders, adhesives, fabric softeners, curing agents for epoxys and dyes. As a corrosion inhibitor, it plays a vital role in paints and coolants. It is used as an intermediate in the preparation of polyamide resins, fuel additives and lubricants. It acts as a precursor for many polymers like polyurethane fibers and poly(amidoamine), ethylenediamine dihydroiodide (EDDI) as well as the bleaching activator, tetraacetylethylenediamine. It is an important chelating ligand used in the preparation of coordination compounds viz. tris(ethylenediamine)cobalt(III) chloride. It is also involved in the manufacture of many industrial chemicals and forms derivatives with carboxylic acids, nitriles, alcohols, alkylating agents, carbon disulfide, aldehydes and ketones. It is a basic building block to prepare heterocyclic compound such as imidazolidines.
