Plywood and particle board are often glued with cheap, waterproof urea-formaldehyde resins. Two to three moles of formaldehyde are mixed with one mole of urea and a little ammonia as a basic catalyst. The reaction is allowed to proceed until the mixture becomes syrupy, and then it is applied to the wood surface. The wood surfaces are held together under heat and pressure, while polymerization continues and cross-linking takes place. Propose a mechanism for the base-catalyzed condensation of urea with formaldehyde to give a linear polymer, and then show how further condensation leads to cross-linking.

Plywood and particle board are often glued with cheap, waterproof urea-formaldehyde resins. Two to three moles of formaldehyde are mixed with one mole of urea and a little ammonia as a basic catalyst. The reaction is allowed to proceed until the mixture becomes syrupy, and then it is applied to the wood surface. The wood surfaces are held together under heat and pressure, while polymerization continues and cross-linking takes place. Propose a mechanism for the base-catalyzed condensation of urea with formaldehyde to give a linear polymer, and then show how further condensation leads to cross-linking.