Dicyanamide, also known as dicyanamine, is an

anion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conve ...

having the formula . It contains two

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

groups bound to a central nitrogen

. The chemical is formed by decomposition of

2-cyanoguanidine 2-Cyanoguanidine is a nitrile derived from guanidine. It is a dimer of cyanamide, from which it can be prepared. 2-Cyanoguanidine is a colourless solid that is soluble in water, acetone, and alcohol, but not nonpolar organic solvents. Productio ...

. It is used extensively as a counterion of organic and inorganic

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

s, and also as a reactant for the synthesis of various covalent organic structures. Dicyanimide was used as an anionic component in an organic superconductor that was, when reported in 1990, a superconductor with the highest transition temperature in its structural class. Dean Kenyon has examined the role of this chemical in reactions that can produce

peptide Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides. ...

s. A co-worker then considered this reactive nature and examined the possible role dicyanamide may have had in primordial

biogenesis Spontaneous generation is a superseded scientific theory that held that living creatures could arise from nonliving matter and that such processes were commonplace and regular. It was hypothesized that certain forms, such as fleas, could arise ...

.{{cite journal , journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , year= 1967 , volume= 58 , issue= 2 , pages= 735–742 , title= Synthesis of biologically pertinent peptides under possible primordial conditions , last1= Steinman , first1= G. , last2= Cole , first2= M. N. , pmid= 5233470 , doi=10.1073/pnas.58.2.735 , pmc=335695, doi-access= free

References

Nitriles Anions