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Nathaniel

Why urea crystallizes in aqua regia?

Daniel Minja  Follow

Introduced into concentrated nitric acid, urea produced a white precipitate of urea nitrate $\ce{CO(NH)2·HNO3}$, which can be filtrated and dried. But it must be kept dry. It is decomposed by water in urea and nitric acid in the presence of small amount of water. This compound is known to be a dangerous explosive, which is simple to synthesize. It has been used in Afghanistan war by amateurs who did not get chemical laboratories to synthesize usual explosives. It is extremely difficult to detect after explosion because it is destroyed by water.

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