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Discovery and Production of Urea
2014-09-03 16:11:13

Urea was actually a natural moisturizing factor urea, some expensive cosmetics special logo confused many people. However, do you have any idea about the history of Urea application and production.

Discovery

Naturally, the chemical compound is not only produced by humans but also by many other mammals, as well as amphibians and some fish. Discovered in 1773 by the French chemist Hillaire Rouelle, urea became the first organic compound to be synthetically formulated. German chemist Friedrich Wöhler, one of the pioneers of organic chemistry, invented the process to create the synthetic version of the compound in 1828, just 55 years after its discovery.

Production

The synthetic version of the compound is created from ammonia and carbon dioxide and can be produced as a liquid or a solid. In 1870, the process of producing the compound synthetically by dehydrating ammonium carbamate under conditions of high heat and pressure was invented, and this process is still used today. There are many common uses of the synthetic compound, and therefore its production is high; in fact, approximately one million pounds of urea is manufactured in the United States alone each year.