A white crystalline chemical compound (NH₂CN) that serves as an intermediate in organic synthesis and is used as a nitrogen fertilizer and pesticide.
From cyanogen (from cyan-, Greek kyanos meaning 'blue' + -gen meaning 'producer') combined with -amide, a functional group from ammonia. The modern term standardized in late 19th-century chemistry.
Cyanamide is one of those invisible heroes of civilization—most people have never heard of it, yet it's crucial to modern agriculture and helped push humanity's population past 8 billion because it made nitrogen fertilizer cheap and abundant.
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