Question

What is the name of the compound \[N{H_2}COON{H_4}\] ?
A. Diammonium carbonate
B. Ammonium carbamate
C. Uric acid
D. Both (b) and (c)

Answer 1

Hint: The given compound is an ionic salt formed from the reaction between an acid and a base. The name of the compound can be determined by identifying the cation (coming from base) and the anion (coming from acid) in the compound.

Complete answer:
The neutralization reaction that takes place between an acid and a base results in the formation of a neutral salt in which the cation comes from the base and the anion is provided by the acid.
The compound with the formula \[N{H_2}COON{H_4}\] consist of an anion coming from the carbamic acid and the cation coming from ammonia. Carbamic acid is a weak organic acid that partially dissociates to release hydrogen ions, therefore it acts as a bronsted acid. Ammonia is a bronsted base that accepts the hydrogen ions released by carbamic acid and forms an ammonium cation. The reactions can be shown as follows:
\[N{H_2}COOH \to N{H_2}CO{O^ - } + {H^ + }\]
\[N{H_3} + {H^ + } \to N{H_4}\]
The salt consists of a carbamate and an ammonium ion. It is a single salt with one cation and one anion, thus diammonium carbonate is not the correct name. It is not an acid and therefore uric acid is not the correct name.

Hence the correct option is B.

Note:
The conventional method of writing the formula of any ionic salt is that the symbol of the cation is written first followed by the symbol of the anion. But the method is reversed when the anionic species is an organic molecule, then the anion is written first followed by the cation.