Urea is the most synthesized organic compound by mass in the world and 80% of urea available is used to produce fertilizers. Since the need for fertilizers is growing every year, the need for urea is increasing as a consequence. Current industry methods for synthesizing urea are expensive, not energy efficient, and have low yields. We are developing an electrochemical reaction which can be performed assisted with ionic liquid as a catalyst to synthesize urea in higher efficiency and at a lower cost. The reaction was delivered successfully in various primary amines in an attempt to synthesize the ureal derivatives. Different potentials and reaction times were tested on all of the amines used in the reaction but had no effect. The reaction was then improved by purging CO<sub>2</sub> into the ionic liquid before addition of the primary amine. This gave significantly higher yields with all amines and a 50% reduction in reaction time. Reactions were then performed with ionic liquid and without ionic liquid and the reactions containing ionic liquid were formed product while the reactions without ionic liquid formed only salt. As a result of future findings, the use of urea in current industries and laboratories could be significantly enhanced in regard to the amount of time, cost, and resources needed.

Electrochemical synthesis of urea in ionic liquid catalytic system with CO<sub>2</sub>

2019 Spring National Meeting

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Electrochemical synthesis of urea in ionic liquid catalytic system with CO2

Electrochemical synthesis of urea in ionic liquid catalytic system with CO₂