Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Is there anything interesting I can do with Urea?

Chemgineer - 16-6-2021 at 17:03

I've got too much of it!

XeonTheMGPony - 16-6-2021 at 18:07

excellent fertilizer.

j_sum1 - 16-6-2021 at 18:30

Make hydrazine sulfate.

Jenks - 16-6-2021 at 18:40

Or concentrated ammonia.

BromicAcid - 16-6-2021 at 18:52

Ethylene carbonate

rockyit98 - 16-6-2021 at 19:02

Making Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) from urea
https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=15...

monolithic - 17-6-2021 at 08:55

Urea nitrate?

karlos³ - 17-6-2021 at 11:16

Great to make amides from carboxylic acids.

DraconicAcid - 17-6-2021 at 11:23

Low-temperature eutectic solvents

karlos³ - 17-6-2021 at 12:31

Sodium-/potassium cyanate by the reaction of it with sodium-/potassium carbonate/hydroxide?

student - 17-6-2021 at 12:39

Barbiturates. Nobody else wanted to say it but that is why I am here.

DraconicAcid - 17-6-2021 at 12:52

Quote: Originally posted by karlos³  
Great to make amides from carboxylic acids.

I did not know that was an option. And here I was, making esters and shaking them with ammonia like a chump.

karlos³ - 17-6-2021 at 13:01

Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid  
Quote: Originally posted by karlos³  
Great to make amides from carboxylic acids.

I did not know that was an option. And here I was, making esters and shaking them with ammonia like a chump.

Our mackolol made a writeup on oleic acid to oleamide with urea(and boric acid) next door, you might need to register, but its good stuff: https://www.thevespiary.org/talk/index.php?topic=18728.0;top...

S.C. Wack - 17-6-2021 at 18:00

AFAIK the usual directions (Vogel 3rd) either do not scale well or need improvement, and the method is overall rendered sucky by sublimation of carbamate or whatever, on top of the gas evolution. Multiple bad things happen when heated above 195C.

When not used for explosives, it can be converted to nitrourea for semicarbazide or nitrous oxide.

Indirectly, urea has been used to decarboxylate amino acids to the parent amine.

draculic acid69 - 20-6-2021 at 03:07

Quote: Originally posted by BromicAcid  
Ethylene carbonate


Is there a write-up for how to do this rxn anywhere? I think it will be useful for when I try to make some tertiary alcohols

BromicAcid - 20-6-2021 at 06:14

Haven't seen a write-up. I did some work on it years ago and would be glad to see someone else take it on:

http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=2948

Oxy - 20-6-2021 at 07:34

Quote: Originally posted by student  
Barbiturates. Nobody else wanted to say it but that is why I am here.


Violuric acid can be made from barbituric acid.

njl - 20-6-2021 at 08:29

Quote: Originally posted by S.C. Wack  

Indirectly, urea has been used to decarboxylate amino acids to the parent amine.


Details!

S.C. Wack - 20-6-2021 at 11:04

"It is said that" would have been the better choice for my wording.
https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=99...

BTW OS notes that urea is cheaper than cyanate for the synthesis of the easiest diazomethane precursor nitrosomethylurea (from methylamine), but few readers may care.

draculic acid69 - 27-6-2021 at 21:53

Quote: Originally posted by S.C. Wack  
"It is said that" would have been the better choice for my wording.
https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=99...

BTW OS notes that urea is cheaper than cyanate for the synthesis of the easiest diazomethane precursor nitrosomethylurea (from methylamine), but few readers may care.


Diazomethane is a nasty animal indeed.
Anyone using or making it is batshit crazy.
I seen a bottle (4liter blue plastic) of the stuff
sitting on the driveway of a supply company one day.
I had read a few things that required diazomethane in there synths
and that's why I recognised this clearly labelled bottle. It was only layer
I was reading about diazomethane and it's hazards that I finally
realised what it was sitting away from anybody or the building by itself on the driveway. I remember my first thought upon seeing this was maybe I could just help myself to this bottle of chemical they don't seem to want. I'm very glad I kept walking past it now.

Lion850 - 27-6-2021 at 22:18

Student, Oxy, How to go from urea to barbituric acid (so that I can then go on to violuric acid and violurates)? Thank you.

Boffis - 28-6-2021 at 02:04

Quote: Originally posted by Lion850  
Student, Oxy, How to go from urea to barbituric acid (so that I can then go on to violuric acid and violurates)? Thank you.


Diethyl malonate + urea + sodium ethoxide; check out Vogel's Textbook of organic chemistry. Both 3rd and 5th editions are available online.

S.C. Wack - 28-6-2021 at 14:07

Vogel's is from OS, who in CV2 pg 60 mention other methods, all from urea.
Quote: Originally posted by draculic acid69  
Diazomethane is a nasty animal indeed.
Anyone using or making it is batshit crazy.
I seen a bottle (4liter blue plastic) of the stuff
sitting on the driveway of a supply company one day.


It's hard to believe that anyone would offer a solution of it for sale. The precursors for it are more insidious poisons. Count me as batshit crazy (if anyone hasn't already), since I plan on making some soon; following abnormal directions that are safer than usual. A relevant thread will be started, if it goes well. This will be from acetyl methylurea, and there might be better directions than Vogel's for acetamide from urea coming as well.

Praxichys - 1-7-2021 at 09:17

Urea and ammonium nitrate mixed and heated with a silica catalyst gives guanidine nitrate at about a 60% yield. This opens the door to tetrazoles among other things.

ShotBored - 1-7-2021 at 09:28

Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid  
Low-temperature eutectic solvents


Agreed, deep eutectic solvents (DES) are cool! I made mine with urea and choline chloride. 2 part urea (MP 133C), 1 parts choline chloride (MP 302C) creates a DES with a melting point of 12C! People have been using DES's for extracting precious metals from old batteries and stuff.