In 1828, Friedrich Wöhler published a paper describing the formation of urea by combining which acid and ammonium in vitro?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The correct answer is option 2 i.e. cyanic acid.
- In 1828, Friedrich Wöhler published a paper describing the formation of urea by combining cyanic acid and ammonium in vitro.
- These experiments demonstrated the first successful synthesis of an organic compound from two inorganic molecules.
- This was a significant achievement in chemistry, proving that organic compounds could be created artificially rather than being solely of biological origin.
- Wöhler’s synthesis of urea from inorganic compounds was a landmark in organic chemistry.
- However, it is not the same as the natural process of urea synthesis in the mammalian liver.
- The natural mechanism of urea synthesis was discovered in 1932 by Hans A. Krebs and Kurt Henseleit.
- This process is called the ornithine cycle or urea cycle.
- The urea cycle occurs only in living cells.
- It depends on the compartmentalization of enzymatic reactions in both mitochondria and cytosol.