Guanidine

Guanidine is the compound with the formula HNC(NH2)2. It is a colourless solid that dissolves in polar solvents. It is a strong base that is used in the production of plastics and explosives. It is found in urine as a normal product of protein metabolism. A guanidine moiety also appears in larger organic molecules, including on the side chain of arginine. Guanidine is the compound with the formula HNC(NH2)2. It is a colourless solid that dissolves in polar solvents. It is a strong base that is used in the production of plastics and explosives. It is found in urine as a normal product of protein metabolism. A guanidine moiety also appears in larger organic molecules, including on the side chain of arginine. Guanidine can be thought of as a nitrogenous analogue of carbonic acid. That is, the C=O group in carbonic acid is replaced by a C=NH group, and each OH is replaced by a NH2 group. A detailed crystallographic analysis of guanidine was elucidated 148 years after its first synthesis, despite the simplicity of the molecule. In 2013, the positions of the hydrogen atoms and their displacement parameters were accurately determined using single-crystal neutron diffraction. Guanidine can be obtained from natural sources, being first isolated by Adolph Strecker via the degradation of guanine. The compound was first synthesized in 1861 by the oxidative degradation of an aromatic natural product, guanine, isolated from Peruvian guano. The commercial route involves a two step process starting with the reaction of dicyandiamide with ammonium salts. Via the intermediacy of biguanidine, this ammonolysis step affords salts of the guanidinium cation (see below). In the second step, the salt is treated with base, such as sodium methoxide. With a pKb of 0.4, guanidine is a strong base. Most guanidine derivatives are in fact salts containing the conjugate acid. The conjugate acid is called the guanidinium cation, (C(NH2)+3). This planar, symmetric ion consists of three amino groups each bonded to the central carbon atom with a covalent bond of order 4/3. It is a highly stable +1 cation in aqueous solution due to the efficient resonance stabilization of the charge and efficient solvation by water molecules. As a result, its pKa is 13.6 meaning that guanidine is a very strong base in water; in neutral water, it exists almost exclusively as guanidinium. The main salt of commercial interest is the nitrate NO3. It is used as a propellant, for example in air bags.