Chemical weapons organophosphorus compounds

The toxicity of the P-halidc anhydrides, like that of phosphoroxychloride (POCl3) and of other organophosphorus compounds discussed earlier in this section, is due to their high efficiency as irreversible inactivators of acetylcholinesterase [157]. The main target organs for the lethal effects of these chemical weapons are the brain and diaphragm. As for the detoxification of the P-halide anhydrides, it can occur by a number of biochemical mechanisms, namely chemical hydrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis, and binding to hydrolases such as carboxylesterases, cholinesterases, and albumin [68][158][159]. 

An interesting example deals with the identification of organophosphorus compounds in soil samples [13]. Such compounds can occur as degradation products of chemical weapons (CWs) in soil and other matrices. The convention for the prohibition of chemical weapons sets up procedures for the... 

Comparison of the two pseudo-on-flow NMR chromatograms reveals that compounds 1,2 and 3 are organophosphorus compounds (Table 6.5), but only compounds 2 and 3 are phosphonates and related to chemical weapons. In fact, compound 2 is a degradation product of compound 3... 

Albaret, C., Loeillet, D., Auge, P., Fortier, P.-L., Application of two-dimensional H-31P inverse NMR spectroscopy to the detection of trace amounts of organophosphorus compounds related to the chemical weapons convention, Anal. Chern., 69, 2694-2700 (1997). 

Davisson, M.L., Love, A.H., Vance, A., and Reynolds, J.G. 2005. Environmental Fate of Organophosphorus Compounds Related to Chemical Weapons. UCRL-TR-209748. 

Heteronuclear correlation experiments can be useful in terms of identification and quantification of traces in complex mixtures such as soil or water. The detection of trace amounts of organophosphorus compounds related to the chemical weapons convention impressively demonstrates how the advantages of each nucleus were combined, namely the sensitivity of the H NMR spectra and the freedom from background noise for P NMR spectra [26]. This was achieved by measuring inverse H- P NMR spectra utilizing the HSQC experiments. These techniques will be introduced to drug analysis in body fluids. 

In the United States, as elsewhere, the chemical weapons industry was tied closely to industries that manufactured pesticides, insecticides, and fertilizers, all of which relied heavily on research on organophosphorus compounds— that is, substances containing phosphorus and carbon elements in their struc-... 

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