ABSTRACT
I. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 21 II. Specific Agents ...................................................................................................................... 22
A. Chlorine-Cl2................................................................................................................. 22 B. Sulfur Mustard-C4H8Cl2S............................................................................................ 24 C. Cyanogen Chloride-ClCN............................................................................................ 27 D. Hydrogen Cyanide-HCN ............................................................................................. 29 E. Chloropicrin-CCl3NO2 ................................................................................................ 32 F. Phosgene-COCl2.......................................................................................................... 33
III. Nerve Agents-General Remarks.......................................................................................... 36 A. Nerve Agents-VX (C11H26NO2Ps).............................................................................. 36 B. Nerve Agents-GA (Tabun) (C5H11N2O2P) ................................................................. 37 C. Nerve Agents-GB (Sarin) (C4H10FO2P)...................................................................... 38 D. Nerve Agents-GD (Soman) (C7H16FO2P)................................................................... 39 E. BZ (C21H23NO3) ............................................................................................................ 40 F. CS (C10H5ClN2) ............................................................................................................. 41
References ....................................................................................................................................... 42
The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the chemistry of selected substances that have been thought of as chemical warfare agents (CWAs) at one time or another. Although ‘‘toxins’’ are chemicals, they have not been included since, in some circles, they are thought of as biological threats even though they are perhaps better considered as toxic chemicals arising from various organisms. In general, this chapter is written from the perspective of an organic chemist.
