Dicyanamide, also known as dicyanamine, is an
anion
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conven ...
having the
formula
In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...
. It contains two
cyanide
In chemistry, cyanide () is an inorganic chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom.
Ionic cyanides contain the cyanide anion . This a ...
groups bound to a central nitrogen
anion
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conven ...
. The chemical is formed by decomposition of
2-cyanoguanidine. It is used extensively as a counterion of organic and inorganic
salt
In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
s, and also as a reactant for the synthesis of various covalent organic structures.
Dicyanamide was used as an anionic component in an
organic superconductor that was, when reported in 1990, a
superconductor with the highest
transition temperature in its structural class.
Dean Kenyon has examined the role of this chemical in reactions that can produce
peptide
Peptides are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. A polypeptide is a longer, continuous, unbranched peptide chain. Polypeptides that have a molecular mass of 10,000 Da or more are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty am ...
s. A co-worker then considered this reactive nature and examined the possible role dicyanamide may have had in primordial
biogenesis
Spontaneous generation is a Superseded scientific theories, superseded scientific theory that held that living creatures could arise from abiotic component, non-living matter and that such processes were commonplace and regular. It was Hypoth ...
.
[{{cite journal , journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , year= 1967 , volume= 58 , issue= 2 , pages= 735–742 , title= Synthesis of biologically pertinent peptides under possible primordial conditions , last1= Steinman , first1= G. , last2= Cole , first2= M. N. , pmid= 5233470 , doi=10.1073/pnas.58.2.735 , pmc=335695, doi-access= free , bibcode= 1967PNAS...58..735S ]
References
Nitriles
Anions