Could you describe how does it identify that it's an amine?
It's a bit rubbish really - it just reacts with the amine. Acyl chlorides will react with a lot of things such as water, alcohols and amines to give off HCl gas. I suppose you could identify each by how the product behaves - the reaction with water will produce an acidic solution, the reaction with the alcohol will produce an ester (probably a non-miscible liquid with water) and the amine you'd probably get a precipitate.
A much better test would be the Hinsberg reaction, which is similar (uses a sulfuryl chloride instead of an acid chloride).
...or in the late twentieth century and since we use spectroscopy to identify things
It's a bit rubbish really - it just reacts with the amine. Acyl chlorides will react with a lot of things such as water, alcohols and amines to give off HCl gas. I suppose you could identify each by how the product behaves - the reaction with water will produce an acidic solution, the reaction with the alcohol will produce an ester (probably a non-miscible liquid with water) and the amine you'd probably get a precipitate.
A much better test would be the Hinsberg reaction, which is similar (uses a sulfuryl chloride instead of an acid chloride).
...or in the late twentieth century and since we use spectroscopy to identify things