Ammonium cyanate
Ammonium cyanate is an inorganic compound with the formula NH4OCN. It is a colorless solid.The structure of this salt was verified by X-ray crystallography. The respective C−O and C−N distances are 1.174 and 1.192 Å, consistent with the O=C=N− description. NH4+ forms hydrogen bonds to N, but not O.
The compound is notable as the precursor in the Wöhler synthesis of urea, an organic compound, from inorganic reactants. This led to the discarding of the Vital force theory, suggested earlier by Berzelius.
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