In the first step of urea-formaldehyde resin synthesis, urea reacts with formaldehyde to form a prim — Polymers Chemistry Question
Question
In the first step of urea-formaldehyde resin synthesis, urea reacts with formaldehyde to form a primary intermediate known as monomethylol urea. What is the total number of oxygen atoms present in a single molecule of this specific intermediate?
Answer: 2
💡 Solution & Explanation
Urea is $NH_2-CO-NH_2$ (contains 1 oxygen). Formaldehyde is $HCHO$ (contains 1 oxygen). They react to form monomethylol urea, which has the structure $NH_2-CO-NH-CH_2OH$. This molecule contains exactly 2 oxygen atoms.
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