The mechanism for synthesis of 4, 4-methylenedianiline (MDA) via condensation reaction of aniline with formaldehyde has been studied extensively in this paper. The intermediate and by-products were isolated and identified. The combination of isotope labeling and HPLC– MS characterizations disclosed that the reaction proceeded through an SN2 reaction mechanism. Moreover, the effect of aniline/formaldehyde molar ratio on the formation of ...
