Why Urea Eliminates Ammonia Rather than Hydrolyzes in Aqueous Solution
Alexandrova AN, Jorgensen WL. Why Urea Eliminates Ammonia Rather than Hydrolyzes in Aqueous Solution. The Journal Of Physical Chemistry B 2007, 111: 720-730. PMID: 17249815, PMCID: PMC2995377, DOI: 10.1021/jp066478s.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsAddition/elimination mechanismDecomposition of ureaWater moleculesResonance stabilizationAqueous solutionNH3 eliminationNatural bond order analysisQM/MM Monte Carlo simulationsBond order analysisFree energy perturbation calculationsQM/MMExplicit water modelRate-determining stepElimination mechanismOverall free energyLow activation energySolvent effectsElimination reactionHydrogen bondsPreferred reaction routeReaction routeGas phaseTransition stateZwitterionic intermediateAb initio