Ask a Teacher



how is synthetic urea made?

Natural and synthetic urea have the same chemical formula CO(NH2)2.Commercial production of synthetic urea now involves the reaction of ammonia and carbon dioxide under high pressure (approximately 150 atm) and at high temperature (approximately180°C). The product, ammonium carbamate (CO2NH4NH2), is then dehydrated to produce urea. A summary reaction is shown below:

2NH3 + CO2 -----> CO2NH4NH2 -----> CO(NH2)2 + H2O



comments powered by Disqus