A synthesis of urea performed by Friedrich Wöhler in 1828. He discovered that urea (CO(NH2)2) was formed when a solution of ammonium isocyanate (NH4NCO) was evaporated. At the time it was believed that organic substances such as urea could be made only by living organisms, and its production from an inorganic compound was a notable discovery. It is sometimes (erroneously) cited as ending the belief in vitalism.