Question

First organic compound was synthesized from which of the following inorganic compounds?
a.) \[N{{H}_{4}}Cl\]
b.) \[KCNO\]
c.) \[{{K}_{2}}S{{O}_{4}}\]
d.) \[KCl\]

Answer 1

Hint: In chemistry, the study of organic and inorganic compounds is considered two entirely different fields because the types of reactions and how they react are different between the two. Urea was the first organic compound synthesized in a laboratory, which revolutionized and gave birth to organic chemistry.

Complete step by step solution:
Before the 1890s scientists believed that the only way something could become organic was through a 'vital force' which was only found in living creatures. This whole belief was completely proved wrong in 1828 when a German scientist named Friedrich Wöhler created Urea from non-organic (inorganic) compounds.
The first step in this experiment requires potassium cyanate (silver or lead cyanate can also be used) and it is reacted with ammonia and water. Wohler was expecting the ammonia to form a salt with the cyanate, forming ammonia cyanate. This step of the reaction occurred just as he was expecting, with the salts rearranging to form ammonia cyanate. But the reaction didn’t stop there, instead the ammonium decomposed, forming ammonia and cyanic acid, which in turn react to produce urea.
\[KCNO\,+\,N{{H}_{4}}Cl\,\xrightarrow{heat}\,N{{H}_{4}}CNO\,\]

Therefore, the correct answers are (a) and (c).

Note: Wöhler did the experiment with different sets of reactants: a combination of cyanic acid and ammonia, a combination of silver cyanate and ammonium chloride and combination of lead cyanate and ammonia.