Knowledge Bank

In 1773, H. M. Rouelle's discovery of urea in human urine supported theories that organic chemicals could be modified by chemistry, but could only be produced through a vital force in living plants and $animalsa$. The theory of Vitalism was badly damaged in 1828 when Friedrich W""{o}hler synthesized urea from inorganic starting materials. Indeed, urea was the first organic compound ever to be synthesized from inorganic compounds. Today, urea is thought to have played a significant role in prebiotic chemistry. Extraterrestrial urea was first detected in two samples of the Murchinson $meteoriteb$. In this paper, we report the first detection of gas-phase interstellar urea $[(NH2)2CO]$. We used the $BIMAc$ Array to detect urea emission from the hot molecular core Sgr B2(N-LMH) at $\lambda =3mm(9\ast ,9-8\ast ,8,9\ast ,8-8\ast ,7$, and $10\ast ,10-9\ast ,9)$, and at $\lambda =1mm(20\ast ,20-19\ast ,19,20\ast ,19-19\ast ,18$, and $21\ast ,21-20\ast ,20)$. We will compare the urea column density and distribution with those of other molecules of biological interest in Sgr B2(N-LMH).