According to a report from Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CIAC), urea derivatives are synthesized from the reaction of primary aliphatic amines with CO₂ without any catalysts, organic solvents.

Researchers observed that satisfactory yields were obtained at the optimized conditions comparable to the presence of catalysts and solvents. “It’s a technology that combines CO₂ capture and utilization into one process with the formation of useful urea derivatives but not for geologic sequestration.” Chao Yong and other CIAC researchers wrote in their recent published article.

The method developed is believed to be environmental friendly, because of the absence of other additives, as well as the chemical utilization of abundant and renewable CO­₂ resource, which is expected to reduce the concentration of CO₂ and yields useful products from the reaction.

The article has been published in Green Chem., 2010, 12, 1811–1816.