Thiourea is a white crystalline solid, naturally occurring and synthetic, soluble in water, ammonium thiocyanate solutions and ethanol. In the past, it has been used as a photographic toner, an ingredient in hair preparations, and as a dry cleaning agent.
- CAS No. 62-56-6
- UN number 2811
- Chemical formula CH4N2S
What is Thiourea used for?
Industrial uses of thiourea include the manufacture of flame retardant resins and vulcanization accelerators. Thiourea is used as an additive in diazo paper (photosensitive photocopying paper) and almost all other forms of photocopying paper. This is also used to color silver gelatin prints.
What is thiourea used to detect?
For example, in industry, thiourea is often used in metal electrodeposition, rubber vulcanization, cleaning, testing, gold immersion, etc. In agriculture, thiourea and its derivatives are also used as fertilizers, fungicides on certain fruits, and inhibitors of seed and tuber dormancy.
What kind of fertilizer is thiourea?
Thiourea is a compound containing nitrogen and sulfur. It has three functional groups: amino, imino and thiol, each of which has an important biological role. Thiourea is increasingly used to improve plant growth and productivity under normal and stressful conditions.
Recently, thiourea has been studied for various desirable properties as a fertilizer, especially under environmental stress conditions. It can be applied in a variety of ways, such as seed pre-treatment, foliar spray or media supplementation.
What are the therapeutic uses of thiourea?
Thiourea is the drug originally used to treat Graves' disease; however, it has considerable toxicity. Second-generation drugs and their derivatives such as propylthiouracil, methylthiouracil, methimazole, carbimazole, etc. are less toxic.
What foods contain thiourea?
Cabbage, spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and grapefruit taste bitter because they contain thiourea compounds.
Is thiourea toxic?
Thiourea is a possible carcinogen in humans as it has been shown to cause thyroid and liver cancer in animals. Many scientists believe there is no safe level of exposure to carcinogens. These substances may also cause reproductive harm in humans.
How does thiourea inhibit tyrosinase?
Thiourea derivatives. Phenylthiocarbamide (PTU) is one of the best-known tyrosinase inhibitors studied in the literature. The sulfur atom of PTU binds to the two copper ions in the active site of tyrosinase and blocks enzyme activity.