Question

Name the organic compound which was prepared by Wohler in his laboratory

Answer 1

Organic compounds were only found naturally in plants and animals.

But Friedrich Wohler was a German chemist, who was trying to prepare an organic compound from inorganic compounds.

Firstly, he prepares Ammonium cyanate (${\mathrm{NH}}_4\mathrm{CNO}$) by heating Ammonium chloride (${\mathrm{NH}}_4\mathrm{Cl}$) and Potassium cyanate ($\mathrm{KCNO}$).

The chemical reaction is:

$$\begin{gathered} {\mathrm{NH}}_4\mathrm{Cl}+\mathrm{KCNO}\to {\mathrm{NH}}_4\mathrm{CNO}+\mathrm{KCl} \\ (\mathrm{Ammonium}(\mathrm{Potassium}(\mathrm{Ammonium}(\mathrm{Potassium} \\ \mathrm{chloride})\mathrm{cyanate})\mathrm{cyanate})\mathrm{chloride}) \end{gathered}$$

After heating of Ammonium cyanate (${\mathrm{NH}}_4\mathrm{CNO}$), Urea (${\left({\mathrm{NH}}_2\right)}_2\mathrm{CO}$) is formed.

The chemical reaction of formation of urea is:

$$\begin{gathered} {{\mathrm{NH}}_4\mathrm{CNO}\stackrel{\mathrm{Heat}}{\to }\left({\mathrm{NH}}_2\right)}_2\mathrm{CO} \\ (\mathrm{Ammonium}(\mathrm{urea}\left) \\ \mathrm{cyanate}\right) \end{gathered}$$

Therefore, the first organic compound synthesis in the lab is Urea.