ABATRACTA direct approach to N,N′-disubstituted urea/thiourea from the self-condensation reactions of isothiocyanates in water has been developed. This access tolerated a wide range of functional groups on the aromatic ring, providing a practical and environment-friendly process to N,N′-disubstituted urea/thiourea in moderate to excellent yields from safe and easily available starting materials. A plausible mechanism of the desulfurization self-condensation reaction for urea was also proposed and the role of di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP) and copper catalyst in the present strategy was demonstrated with the help of ESI mass spectrometry of intermediate studies.
The uncatalyzed reaction of p -tolyl isocyanate ( p -TI) with water in N , N -dimethylformamide (DMF) was investigated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The reactions were carried out at different temperatures from 293 K to 323 K, using various molar ratios of water to p -TI. DMF, as a special amide , was proved to be an efficient catalyst for water–isocyanate reaction. Under the reaction conditions in this study, substituted urea was the only final product observed. An appreciable amount of intermediate p -toluidine was detected. Concentrations of the isocyanate group as well as the amine and urea were determined as a function of time. New kinetic equations were deduced for each of the substance on the basis of a multistep mechanism, instead of a simple second order reaction as usual. Kinetic constants were calculated using the software MATLAB . Furthermore, the effects of temperature and concentrations of reactants on the reaction rate and amine content were discussed. The activation energy of each step was also determined.