Urea

Urea, also called carbamide (because it is a diamide of <a href="/facts/Carbonic_acid/fjjVAhwt">carbonic acid</a>), is an <a href="/facts/Organic_compound/gqCNaN45">organic compound</a> with <a href="/facts/Chemical_formula/hghUtthl">chemical formula</a> CO(NH2)2. This <a href="/facts/Amide/C6kCzYEA">amide</a> has two <a href="/facts/Amine/SN7W44fv">amino groups</a> (–NH2) joined by a <a href="/facts/Carbonyl/KJ71bo3X">carbonyl</a> <a href="/facts/Functional_group/GXkSPsjM">functional group</a> (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of <a href="/facts/Carbamic_acid/pNQWDyam">carbamic acid</a>.
Urea serves an important role in the cellular <a href="/facts/Metabolism/WxDrm8k5">metabolism</a> of <a href="/facts/Nitrogen/Nf1QpGDz">nitrogen</a>-containing compounds by animals and is the main nitrogen-containing substance in the <a href="/facts/Urine/oNUYVtvX">urine</a> of <a href="/facts/Mammal/phSwTzBo">mammals</a>. Urea is <a href="/facts/Neo-Latin/mbBrTVEd">Neo-Latin</a>, from <a href="/facts/French_language/qe1DnaQh">French</a> urée, from <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek_language/LIK7NlUh">Ancient Greek</a> οὖρον (oûron) 'urine', itself from <a href="/facts/Proto-Indo-European/cVLNoM3p">Proto-Indo-European</a> *h₂worsom.
It is a colorless, odorless solid, highly soluble in water, and practically non-toxic (<a href="/facts/Median_lethal_dose/PSTer8Wv">LD50</a> is 15 g/kg for rats). Dissolved in water, it is neither <a href="/facts/Acid/FySU18n1">acidic</a> nor <a href="/facts/Base_(chemistry)/M9wA7qeM">alkaline</a>. The body uses it in many processes, most notably <a href="/facts/Metabolic_waste/qGH5b3od">nitrogen excretion</a>. The <a href="/facts/Liver/Rtp4Fk2b">liver</a> forms it by combining two <a href="/facts/Ammonia/MtLtJFtz">ammonia</a> molecules (NH3) with a <a href="/facts/Carbon_dioxide/xGzpppEp">carbon dioxide</a> (CO2) molecule in the <a href="/facts/Urea_cycle/rWjAo7DY">urea cycle</a>. Urea is widely used in <a href="/facts/Fertilizer/ysh3r6NJ">fertilizers</a> as a source of nitrogen (N) and is an important <a href="/facts/Raw_material/cthCpclF">raw material</a> for the <a href="/facts/Chemical_industry/3M6gfHer">chemical industry</a>.
In 1828, <a href="/facts/Friedrich_W%25C3%25B6hler/D7uh7ySD">Friedrich Wöhler</a> <a href="/facts/W%25C3%25B6hler_synthesis/RbaT7wh9">discovered</a> that urea can be produced from inorganic starting materials, which was an important conceptual milestone in chemistry. This showed for the first time that a substance previously known only as a byproduct of life could be synthesized in the laboratory without biological starting materials, thereby contradicting the widely held doctrine of <a href="/facts/Vitalism/wYrVvfUf">vitalism</a>, which stated that only living organisms could produce the chemicals of life.

Urea open-in-new

Urea