Trimethylarsine

Trimethyl arsine [593-88-4] C H As, has been identified as the toxic volatile arsenical, once known as "Gosio gas," produced by the reaction of certain molds that grow on wallpaper paste and react with inorganic arsenic compounds present in the paper. A number of microorganisms can methylate arsenic trioxide and other arsenic-containing compounds to yield trimethylarsine. These microorganisms include Scopulariopsis brevicaulis Candida humicola and Gliocladium roseum (72). 

Trialkyl- and triarylarsine sulfides have been prepared by several different methods. The reaction of sulfur with a tertiary arsine, with or without a solvent, gives the sulfides in almost quantitative yields. Another method involves the reaction of hydrogen sulfide with a tertiary arsine oxide, hydroxyhahde, or dihaloarsorane. X-ray diffraction studies of triphenylarsine sulfide [3937-40-4], C gH AsS, show the arsenic to be tetrahedral the arsenic—sulfur bond is a tme double bond (137). Triphenylarsine sulfide and trimethylarsine sulfide [38859-90-4], C H AsS, form a number of coordination compounds with salts of transition elements (138,139). Both trialkyl- and triarylarsine selenides have been reported. The trialkyl compounds have been prepared by refluxing trialkylarsines with selenium powder (140). The preparation of triphenylarsine selenide [65374-39-2], C gH AsSe, from dichlorotriphenylarsorane and hydrogen selenide has been reported (141), but other workers could not dupHcate this work (140). 

Trimethylarsine gives a 98% yield of trimethylarsine difluoride when treated with xenon difluoride [102] in fluorotrichloromelhane. and tnsfpentafluorophen-yl)arsine gives a 94% yield of tris(pentafluornphenyl)arsme difluoride after reaction with dilute fluorine in fluorotnchloromethane at 0 C [106] Other trivalent arsenic compounds have also been fluorinated with xenon difluoride [103] In addition, arsines have been oxidatively fluorinated by iodine pentafluoride [107] or electrochemically in 26-34% yield [108]... 

Conversion of a nontoxic molecule to one that is toxic, or a molecule with low potency to one that is more potent. Examples include the formation of the phenoxy herbicide 2,4-D from the corresponding butyrate, formation of nitrosamines, and methylation of arsenicals to trimethylarsine. 

In 1933 Challenger et al. discovered that trimethylarsine was synthesized from inorganic arsenic compounds by molds (93). Recently, McBride and Wolfe (94), have reported the synthesis of dimethylarsine from arsenate by cell extracts of the methanogenic bacterium M. O. H. Methylcobalamin is the alkylating coenzyme for this synthesis which requires reduction of arsenate to arsenite, methylation of arsenite to methylarsonic acid, reduction and methylation of methylarsonic acid to dimethylarsinic acid, and finally a four electron reduction of dimethylarsinic acid to dimethylarsine (Fig. 13). 

Main metabolites in urine after 7 months of exposure to 100 mg As/L drinking water were DMA and trimethylarsin oxide (TMAO) with minute amounts of tetramethylarsonium (TMA)... 

Trimethylarsin oxide (TMAO) 100 mg As/L in drinking water for 7 months was excreted in urine mostly unchanged with some TMA 24... 

Edmonds, J.S. and K.A. Francesconi. 1987. Trimethylarsine oxide in estuary catfish (Cnidoglanis macroceph-alus) and school whiting (Sillago bassensis) after oral administration of sodium arsenate and as a natural component of estuary catfish. Sci. Total Environ. 64 317-323. 

Lithium tetramethylborate, 1740 Tetraethyldiarsane, 3087 Tetramethyldiarsane, 1736 Tribenzylarsine, 3822 Triethylarsine, 2557 Trimethylarsine, 1294... 

Some metals, arsenic and mercury for example, may be volatilized by methylation due to activity of anaerobic microorganisms. Arsenic can be methylated by methanogenic Archaea and fungi to volatile toxic dimethylarsine and trimethylarsine or can be converted to less toxic nonvolatile methanearsonic and dimethylarsinic acids by algae [42]. 

Arsenic compounds with one to four methyl groups attached to the arsenic atom are common constituents of marine samples. The relevant species are monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) (3), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) (4), trimethylarsine oxide (TMAO) (5), and tetramethylarson-ium ion (TeMA) (6). Of these, MMA and DMA are readily separated... 

The compounds MMA, DMA, and TMAO are reduced in acidic aqueous media by borohydride solutions to methylarsine (MeAsH2, bp 2°C), dimethylarsine (Me2AsH, bp 35°C), and trimethylarsine (Me3As, bp 55°C), respectively. These products are useful derivatives for speciation analysis of arsenic because they are readily separated from complex sample matrices and may be further separated from each other by distillation (41) or by gas chromatography (42) prior to their determination by element-specific detectors. Consequently, arsine generation techniques are the most commonly used methods for determining MMA, DMA, and TMAO in marine samples. 

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