Chem. [f. ALKALI + AMIDE.] A compound uniting the characters of an amine and an amide, containing both acid and alcohol radicals, as Ethyl-acetamide N.C2H5.C2H3O.H.
According to the molecules of ammonia which they represent, they are mon-, di-, or tri-alkalamides, which are secondary or tertiary according to the hydrogen atoms replaced. As there must be at least 2 of these, there are of course no primary alkalamides.
1863. Watts, Dict. Chem. (1879), I. 169. (Classification of compound ammonias) 3. Ammonias in which 2 or more atoms of hydrogen are replaced by acid- and base- radicles. This division we call alkalamides. Ibid., 180. There exists a class of compounds occupying an intermediate place between primary and secondary dialkalamides.
