Allophanic acid is the
organic compound
In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The ...
with the formula H
2NC(O)NHCO
2H. It is a
carbamic acid
Carbamic acid, which might also be called aminoformic acid or aminocarboxylic acid, is the chemical compound with the formula . It can be obtained by the reaction of ammonia and carbon dioxide at very low temperatures, which also yields an equ ...
, the carboxylated derivative of
urea
Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid.
Urea serves an important r ...
.
Biuret
Biuret is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white solid that is soluble in hot water. A variety of organic derivatives are known. The term "biuret" also describes a family of organic compounds with the chemical formula , where ...
can be viewed as the amide of allophanic acid. The compound can be prepared by treating urea with sodium bicarbonate:
:H
2NC(O)NH
2 + NaHCO
3 → H
2NC(O)NHCO
2H + NaOH
The anionicconjugate base, H
2NC(O)NHCO
2−, is called allophanate. Salt of this anion have been characterized by
X-ray crystallography
X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...
.
[{{cite journal , doi=10.1080/10610279608233970, title=A Novel Inclusion Compound Consolidated by Host-host and Host-guest Hydrogen Bonding: (2-hydro-xyethyl)trimethylammonium Ions Included in a Channel Host Lattice Built of Urea Molecules and Allophanate Ions, year=1996, last1=Li, first1=Qi, last2=Mak, first2=Thomas C. W., journal=Supramolecular Chemistry, volume=8, pages=73–80] The anion allophonate is the substrate for the enzyme
allophanate hydrolase
In enzymology, an allophanate hydrolase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
:allophanate + 3 H2O + H+ \rightleftharpoons 2 HCO3− + 2 NH4+
Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are allophanate (urea-1-carboxylate or ''N''-c ...
.
Allophonate esters arise from the condensation of carbamates.
References
Ureas
Functional groups
Carbamates