Urea-forming system nucleus

In general, electron-releasing groups (e.g. —NH2, —OH) diminish or prevent covalent hydration by decreasing the electron deficiency in the nucleus. This diminution becomes ineffective if a new kind of stabilizing resonance is facilitated by the substituent, e.g. the urea-type resonance and the 4-aminopyridine-type resonance in 2- and 6-hydroxypteridine, respectively. The reluctance of the anions of these substances to form hydrates is attributed to the stable benzenoid system, e.g. 42, in the anhydrous anion compared with the predominantly lactam form of the neutral species, e.g. 43. 

More than 25 different substituted urea herbicides are currently commercially available [30, 173]. The most important are phenylureas and Cycluron, which has the aromatic nucleus replaced by a saturated hydrocarbon moiety. Benzthiazuron and Methabenzthiazuron are more recent selective herbiddes of the class, with the aromatic moiety replaced by a heterocyclic ring system. With the exception of Fenuron, substituted ureas (i.e., Diuron, Fluometuron, Fig. 10, Table 3) exhibit low water solubilities, which decrease with increasing molecular volume of the compound. The majority of the phenylureas have relatively low vapor pressures and are, therefore, not very volatile. These compounds show electron-donor properties and thus they are able to form charge transfer complexes by interaction with suitable electron acceptor molecules. Hydrolysis, acylation, and alkylation reactions are also possible with these compounds. 

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