ammonia (cJ Section 9.1 .I .4), and dependent on the excess of
ammonia, secondary reactions can give higher amines such as
piperazine. A particular advantage of using ethanolamine rather
than 1,2-dichloroethane is the absence of the coproduct NaC1.
In 1969, BASF in Wesern Europe became the first firm to
produce ethylenediamine commercially (7000 tonnes per year
capacity) using this salt-free process. Since then, there have been
similar developments by other companies.
The uses of ethylenediamine are discussed in Section 9.1.1.4.