Barium cyanamid production

In 1895, Frank and Caro found that when barium carbide was heated to redness in air the main product was barium cyanide, but simultaneously a certain amount of barium cyanamide was formed. These two reactions, therefore, proceeded side by side ... 

In 1895 Adolf Frank (1834-1916) and Nikodemus Caro (1871-1935) substituted barium carbide for the carbonate and reported that the reaction proceeded better with addition of water vapor. In contrast, shortly afterward F. Rothe, employed by Beringer Sohne in Charlottenburg found that the reaction proceeds best with very pure Nz and in the driest possible conditions. In 1898, after Rothe began working for Frank and Caro in Hamburg, he discovered that cyanamide, rather than cyanide, was the main product. Once it was shown that a much cheaper calcium carbide reacts in much the same way at temperatures between 1,000 and 1,100 °C, it was possible to contemplate a commercial venture based on the reaction... 

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