Potassium fluoroacetate, toxicity

The toxic principle of D. cymosum has been isolated by Marais and proved to be potassium fluoroacetate.2 It is evident that this is indeed the heart poison referred to by Steyn in his vivid account given above. 

Ethyl, n-propyl and isopropyl fluoroacetates were also readily prepared by heating the corresponding esters of chloroacetic acid with potassium fluoride in the rotating autoclave. Their toxicities were similar to that of methyl fluoroacetate. (It... 

It was obviously of interest to determine whether other esters of fluoroacetic acid would prove to be more or less toxic than the methyl ester. In the phosphorofluoridate series, for example, we found that esters of secondary alcohols were far more potent than those of primary alcohols for instance, di-isopropyl fluorophosphonate (I) was a compound of considerable activity. Accordingly ethyl, ra-propyl and isopropyl fluoroacetates were prepared by heating the corresponding esters of chloroacetic acid in the rotating autoclave with potassium fluoride. The toxicity figures of these esters were very similar to those of methyl fluoroacetate. 

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