Question

What are organic compounds?
Why NH4CNO (ammonium cynate) is inorganic while NH2CONH2(urea) is organic.Urea is nothing but arrangement in ammonium cynate.so why one is organic while another is inorganic.

Answer 1

Organic compound - A large class of chemical compounds in which one or more atoms of carbon are covalently linked to atoms of other elements, most commonly hydrogen, oxygen, or nitrogen.
Organic compounds are compounds of animal or plant origin while the rest are inorganic compounds. Ammonium cyanate is not found in any living being and is, therefore, an inorganic compound.

• Ammonium cyanate does not contain any C-H covalent bond, so it is not an organic compound but contains ionic species. Organic compounds are either hydrocarbons (compounds of carbon and hydrogen) or their derivatives whereas, ammonium cyanate is neither a hydrocarbon nor a derivative of hydrocarbon.

• Urea is an organic compound because it contains two ${NH}_2$ groups joined together by a carbonyl group. ​
• Also, the ammonium cyanate solution in water gives a conductive solution. On the other hand urea (NH2)2CO is typically viewed as organic because it occurs as a major constituent of urine in many higher animals.