Soman

Soman Dhar, Castrol India Lad. New Delhi Chandra Kumar, National Engineering Company. Jaipur B.B. Rao, SKF Bearings India Ltd. Mumbai B. Raman, BHEL, Bhopal Anil Kamra, Crompton Gretives Ltd, New Delhi... 

J Soman, S Iismaa, CD Stout. Crystallographic analysis of two site-directed mutants of Azotobacter vmelandii feiredoxin. J Biol Chem 266 21558-21562, 1991. 

Moreover organophosphoric acid esters have found application as insecticides (e.g. Parathion). Some derivatives are highly toxic to man (e.g. Sarin, Soman). The organophosphonates act as inhibitors of the enzyme cholinesterase by phosphorylating it. This enzyme is involved in the proper function of the parasympathetic nervous system. A concentration of 5 x 10 g/L in the air can already cause strong toxic effects to man. 

Discovered in the late 1930s in Germany as improved poisonous insecticides, organophosphorus ChEIs were developed as chemical warfare agents (e.g. sarin, soman, and tabun) and were more recently employed in the 1995 terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway system [5]. 

Organophosphates are a group of pentavalent phosphorus compounds, which contain an organic group (e.g. parathion, malathion, tabun, sarin, soman). 

Haregewoin, A., Soman, G., Horn, A.C., Finberg, R.W. (1989). Human y5 T cells respond to mycobacterial heat shock protein. Nature 340,309-310. 

Chemical warfare agents, such as soman and sarin, sometimes termed nerve gases, are powerful anticholinesterases, which bear some resemblance in structure and properties, to the OP insecticides. A major difference from most insecticides is their high volatility. These agents were possessed by the major powers during World War II, althongh they were never employed in warfare. 

The carbamate and OP insecticides and the organophosphorous nerve gases soman, sarin, and tabun all act as anticholinesterases, and most of their toxicity is attributed to this property. The naturally occurring carbamate physostigmine, which has been used in medicine, is also an anticholinesterase. Some OP compounds can cause relatively long-lasting inhibition of the enzyme because of the phenomenon of... 

They are generally divided into the G-agents, which in the unmodified state are volatile, and the V-agents, which tend to be more persistent. Even G-agents are capable of being thickened with various substances to increase the persistence and penetration of the intact skin. The principal nerve agents are Tabun (GA), Sarin (GB), Soman (GD), and VX. 

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