[Chemical Structure] 

[Products Name]                   Formamine; Hexamine; Methenamine

[Molecular Formula]              C₆H₁₂N₄

[CAS No.]                                    100-97-0

[Product Description]           

Hexamine is a heterocyclic organic compound that can be prepared by the reaction of formaldehyde and ammonia. It is crystalline and white in appearance. Particle size ranges from 80-800 micrometres. It is moderately soluble in water and very soluble in most organic solvents. It has a cage-like structure similar to adamantane.

It has two very different types of uses: as an antibiotic (commonly the hippurate salt, methenamine hippurate), and as a solid fuel tablet used for cooking while camping or hiking. The name methenamine is more common in its medicinal uses and hexamine is more common in commercial uses.

In the uses of medicinal and food, methenamine hippurate is mainly used for urinary tract infections. It is activated by acidic urine, so only suitable for lower UTIs. It may also be used in the treatment of obstructive post-renal disease in combination with urine alkanization.

Industrial and commercial uses

In the industrial and commercial areas, hexamine is used as a component with 1,3,5-trioxane in hexamine fuel tablets (often called Esbit). This solid fuel in tablet form is used by campers, hobbyists, the military and relief organizations for heating camping food or military rations. It burns smokelessly, has a high energy density, does not liquify while burning and leaves no ashes.

Methenamine Pills (Hexamine) are used to test carpets for flame spread by fire-protection laboratories. Flame spread is relevant to architects and interior designers when specifying building materials and finishes.

Another important area for use of hexamine is in the production of powdery or liquid preparations of phenolic resins and phenolic resin moulding compounds, where hexamine is added as a hardening component. These products are used as binders, e.g. in brake and clutch linings, abrasive products, non-woven textiles, formed parts produced by moulding processes, and fireproof materials.

It is used in rubber and textile adhesives, in paints and lacquers, in the photographic industry, in the production of explosives such as RDX and Hexanite, as a corrosion inhibitor, as a protein modifier, as a reagent in chemical analysis, as an anti-caking agent in urea production and in the production of deodorants and hair fixers, among many other uses.