Carbodiimide

Carbodiimides are in chemistry, a substance group of organic compounds.

The parent compound carbodiimide ( HN = C = NH) is unstable under normal conditions, it is in tautomeric equilibrium with cyanamide. Other carbodiimides do not occur naturally, because they react with water spontaneously to form ureas.

The best-known representatives of the carbodiimides are used as reagents for the elimination of water in syntheses substances dicyclohexylcarbodiimide ( DCC), diisopropyl carbodiimide and 1- ethyl-3 -(3- dimethylaminopropyl ) carbodiimide ( EDC).

Production

Carbodiimides can be synthesized inter alia N, N' -disubstituted ureas by the elimination of water using triphenylphosphine and carbon tetrachloride.

The first carbodiimides were synthesized in 1852 by Hinterberger and Zinin. Later, the Nobel laureate John C. Sheehan used water-soluble carbodiimides in the synthesis of penicillin.