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Investigations Concerning Nitrogen Loss Through Chemical Reactions Involving Urea and Nitrite¹

ABSTRACT

The urea-nitrite Van Slyke reaction was studied to determine the conditions necessary for this reaction to contribute to evolution of nitrogen gas (N₂) by chemical denitrification in soils. The reaction was carried out in buffer solutions and the evolution of gases was analyzed quantitatively. The variables studied were pH, acidity, time, and reactant concentrations. Two conditions necessary for N₂ evolution under an anaerobic atmosphere from an urea-nitrite solution are (1) pH 6.0 or lower, and (2) a concentration of each reactant of 0.05 mg. N per ml, or greater. Evolution of N₂ increased with decreasing pH and increasing reactant concentration. Nitric oxide (NO) formation was increased by increasing acidity, increasing nitrite concentration, and decreasing urea concentration. Nitrite accumulation in soils following urea fertilization requires an alkaline media. Therefore, the possibility that this pathway (urea-nitrite reactions) of nitrogen loss occurs in soils is doubtful.

¹ Contribution from Dept. of Agronomy, Oklahoma Agr. Exp. Sta. Published with the permission of the Director as Journal Ms. No. 957. Presented before Div. S-2 Soil Science Society of America Meetings, Nov. 20, 1963, Denver, Colo.

² Graduate assistant and Professor of Agronomy, Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater. The senior author is now Cotton Physiologist, USDA-ARS—Cotton Branch, Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Received for publication December 23, 1963. Accepted for publication March 23, 1964.