Fengfan CAS 52338-87-1 N,N'-Bis(3-(dimethylamino)propyl)urea (PU) C11H26N4O

Product Overview

Fengfan PU — N,N'-bis(3-(dimethylamino)propyl)urea, CAS 52338-87-1 — is a urea-bridged diamine with two tertiary amine groups sitting at the ends of its propyl chains. We supply it as a colourless to pale yellow transparent liquid at ≥98% solid content and ≤2% volatile matter, so what arrives in the drum is essentially the molecule itself rather than a diluted solution of it.

Its main job is to be built into something else. Reacted with 2,2'-dichlorodiethyl ether it becomes Polyquaternium-2, usually shortened to WT — the cationic surface active agent that levels alkaline non-cyanide zinc baths on electro plating lines. Additive makers who polymerise in-house need a precursor whose amine value holds steady from batch to batch, because that is what fixes the molecular weight, and the molecular weight is what fixes the throwing power of the polymer they sell on.

A second outlet is polyurethane, where the same tertiary amine structure supplies a reactive amine to foam formulations.

Most of our buyers sit in one of three places: an additive plant that polymerises PU into its own brightener system, a chemical blending house that supplies industrial surfactants and plating intermediates, or a synthesis laboratory working on new cationic polymers for corrosion control.

What PU is not matters just as much. It is not a brightener, not a detergent, and not something you tip into a tank. It has to be polymerised before it does anything useful in the metal plating process. Plating shops buy the finished polymer; the companies that make that polymer buy this.

Specifications

Product Advantages

• High assay, fewer chain terminators. At ≥98% solid content the molecules that would end a polymer chain early are kept to a minimum, so the quaternization reaches the molecular weight you designed for instead of stopping at short oligomers that will not level in the electro plating process.
• Low volatile matter. With volatiles held at ≤2%, the water and light ends that disturb the stoichiometric balance stay limited — which matters when you charge by weight into a closed reactor and cannot easily correct afterwards.
• Controlled condensation. The diamine backbone is built by a controlled route that suppresses unreacted amines and thermal degradation fragments, so polymerisation runs linearly and the finished polymer keeps a consistent viscosity profile.
• Accessible tertiary amines. The amine groups sit at the end of unhindered propyl chains rather than buried in a ring, so quaternization goes at the reaction times and temperatures you already run. A new precursor should not force you to re-tune the reactor.
• A steady amine value. The number that decides your stoichiometry is the amine value, and holding it steady is what lets you automate charging and stop re-testing every drum that comes through the door.
• A defined molecule, not a mixture. There are no unknown isomers in the drum, so what you build on top of it is reproducible from one campaign to the next — the reason a research group can use it as a backbone as well.
• Not a bath chemical. PU is not one of the acid zinc plating chemicals that get weighed out and tipped into a tank; it is the material those systems are built from, which is why its specification is written around assay, amine value and volatiles rather than temperature and current density.
• Not one of the anionic surfactants. It does not wet, emulsify or clean. It is the raw material from which cationic surface active agents are made, and it earns its place in the reactor rather than in the wash bath.

Reactivity & Polymerization

Using PU is a synthesis step, not a bath addition. It is charged into the reactor with 2,2'-dichlorodiethyl ether, the two tertiary amines quaternise, and the chain extends into Polyquaternium-2. The urea bridge in the middle of the molecule supplies the nitrogen density that makes the cationic charge possible, which is why the precursor's structure — not only its assay — decides how the finished polymer behaves.

That positive charge is the point of difference. The polymer built from PU is one of the cationic surfactants designed to sit on the cathode and moderate zinc deposition, where it does a controlled job rather than a cleaning one.

Anionic surfactants work on the other side of the line. They carry a negative charge and lift soil off the surface in pretreatment, so a bath formulated around one chemistry is not rescued by adding the other.

What you are really controlling is the molecular weight distribution. A polymer in the right window levels the deposit across a wide current density range, so edges and recesses plate at a similar rate and a complex part comes out without burning at the high-current areas or starving in the low-current ones. Short oligomers do not level; they haze the bath and leave the deposit dull.

During the metal plating process the polymer adsorbs at the cathode and inhibits zinc dendrite formation, which is what keeps a thick zinc layer ductile and blister-free rather than brittle. That behaviour is what carries through to the finished part: fasteners, screws and brackets that survive corrosion testing instead of failing at assembly.

Because quaternization is exothermic, how you charge and how fast matters as much as what the assay says. Send us your reactor volume, target molecular weight and current amine value, and our technical team will work through the charge calculation and the cooling margin with you before the first drum goes in.

Use Scenarios

• A plating-additive plant building its own leveling polymer. A polymer chemist at an additive plant supplying electro plating lines charges PU with dichloroethyl ether to make a batch of Polyquaternium-2 for a flagship zinc brightener. A precise amine value means the reaction runs without gels or insoluble precipitate, and the polymer that comes out gives the brightener its leveling power on complex geometries.
• A blending house supplying industrial surfactants and zinc additives. The product manager needs a precursor dependable enough to blend make-up concentrates in-house. Because every drum reacts the same way, the reactor programme can be automated, the labour per batch drops, and every drum of brightener can be sold against the same specification.
• A synthesis laboratory working on new cationic polymers. A research group modifying urea-based backbones for steel corrosion inhibitors uses PU because the structure is defined and there are no unknown isomers to confound the data. Reacting it with different alkylating agents gives new cationic structures whose performance can be compared run against run.
• A polyurethane formulator. The same intermediate goes into foam systems at low addition levels — 0.05–0.2% for flexible foam, 0.1–0.3% for rigid foam, 0.05–0.2% for semi-rigid foam and 0.1–0.3% for bio-based foam — where it supplies a reactive tertiary amine to the formulation.
• A distributor whose catalogue covers the metal plating process. Holding the precursor lets a distributor supply the additive makers in its region instead of only reselling finished brighteners, and it sits alongside the acid zinc plating chemicals and alkaline zinc products already on the shelf.
• A plating shop that asked for the brightener. This is the one case where the answer is a different product. A shop running alkaline non-cyanide zinc buys the finished polymer or a brightener package, because it has no reactor to polymerise in; PU is what its supplier buys.

Storage & Handling

PU is a diamine, and diamines darken when they oxidise. Keep drums closed, indoors, out of direct sunlight and away from heat, in a cool, dry and well-ventilated store, separated from acid zinc plating chemicals — that is the condition the two-year shelf life is based on, measured from the unopened drum.

Colour is the simplest field check. The specification allows colourless to pale yellow; a drum that has moved to deep amber has probably taken up air and should be checked before it goes into the reactor, because colour carried into the precursor can carry through into the polymer.

Volatile matter is specified at ≤2%, measured at the drum. A drum left open in a humid plant will pick up moisture and no longer weigh what the label says, which matters when you charge by weight to hit a stoichiometric balance. Close the drum between charges and re-weigh rather than assuming.

Transfer with clean, dry equipment dedicated to this product, and keep it away from acids, strong oxidisers and concentrated anionic surfactants. The product is already a liquid at room temperature, so there is no melting or pre-dilution step — it goes into the reactor as supplied.

Rotate stock so the oldest drum is used first, and keep the batch identification with the drum while it sits in the store. If your team needs the safety data sheet or advice on handling for a particular reactor set-up, the sales contact can send it.

Ordering & Delivery

Technical Support & Model Matching

Choosing the right match is where most sourcing decisions stall. As a trading supplier, we keep one point of contact from first enquiry to after-sales: tell us what you are making and the conditions you work under, and we shortlist the closest matches from our supplier network, compare specifications and arrange samples before you commit to a bulk order. If something does not behave as expected, we work with the supplying partner on the cause and a practical fix, and stay with the case until it is settled. Email, WeChat or WhatsApp enquiries get a reply within 24 hours.

FAQ