Weapons in World War

The interplay between the chemical and biological properties of the threat agent, on the one hand, and the specific attack scenario, on the other, can influence the lethality of the attack. Table 2-2 shows the relative respiratory toxicities (expressed as the lethal concentration of toxin at which 50 percent of test animals are killed, or LCT50, in milligrams per minute per cubic meter) of a variety of toxic gases compared with chlorine gas, which was used as a chemical weapon in World War I. According to Table 2-2, the nerve agent sarin (GB) has a respiratory toxicity approximately 100 times that of chlorine, while sulfur mustard (HD) is about 7 times more toxic. However, the lethality of an attack... 

When acids and bases are mixed, a neutralization reaction occurs. Not all acids and bases should be mixed, however. Bleach, which is a solution of sodium or calcium hypochlorite, for example, should never be mixed with any kind of acid because the resulting chemical reaction creates the deadly gas chlorine. Chlorine gas was used as a chemical weapon in World War I, and breathing it can destroy lung tissue. The lungs fill with fluid, and the unfortunate victim eventually dies by suffocation. 

Rapid advances in chemistry during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, coupled with the success of mustard gas as a toxic weapon in World War I, attracted attention to the warfare potential of chemical agents. This led to support for research on lethal nerve agents during and immediately after World War II. The research was followed by the development of treatment methods, and prominent among these was the use of cholinesterase reactivators to reverse the lethal effects of anticholinesterase nerve gases. 

Sodium is a silver-colored metal that reacts violently with water. Even the humidity in the air can make sodium burst into flames. As a precaution, pure sodium metal is often stored in oil to keep the water in the air from getting to its surface. Chlorine, on the other hand, is a pale, greenish-colored gas that is so poisonous it was used as a chemical weapon in World War I. When it is inhaled, chlorine gas causes chest pains and a burning sensation in the throat. It can destroy lung tissue and victims die of suffocation because they cannot breathe. 

The reactions of phosgene (Cl2C=0), a toxic gas that was used as a chemical weapon in World War I, resemble those of acid chlorides. 

One clear example of this can be found on your kitchen table. Elemental chlorine is a yellowish-green poisonous gas that was used as a weapon in World War I. Elemental sodium is a highly reactive metal, which will react violently with water, often with explosive results. When these two potential deadly elements are combined in a chemical reaction, you get sodium chloride or table salt, which you can put on your French fries and safely eat. You see, elements that combine chemically to form a compound lose their individual properties in the chemical reaction. The new substance will have its own unique properties. See the reaction that follows. 

Other historians have argued that because Adolph Hitler had been a gas casualty in World War I, he was personally opposed to the use of gas weapons in World War II. Similarly, many senior officers on the Allied side in World War II had faced gas as junior officers in World War I and were highly resistant to its use in World War II. It was official U.S. policy that the United States would not use chemical warfare first but would retaliate if it were used against us or our allies. Thus, the United States was prepared to retaliate. It was in part because of this preparation that American and British troops had the only military gas casualties in World War II. 

Cyanide, an ancient compound, is often associated with murders and assassinations. Because of the high amount needed to cause death and the inefficient weapons in which it was used, cyanide was not an effective chemical weapon in World War I however, it was possibly used by Iraq against the Kurds in the Iran-Iraq War during the late 1980s. 

Finally, it should not be left unnoted that in the UV-meter mentioned in the first paragraph, there was no pure oxalic acid at all. It contained a chemically bonded form of oxalic acid, which— from a toxicity viewpoint—is quite different from oxalic acid itself. This is by no means surprising, because common salt, which is added to most food, forms from a chemical reaction between a metal (sodium), which reacts vigorously with water, and a gas (chlorine), which was used as a toxic chemical weapon in World War I. The substance produced in the reaction, NaCl, has properties that are unrelated to the properties of the predecessors. This process of toxic parents giving birth to non-toxic children is a cornerstone of modem chemical science. 

Sason Let me interrupt you for a second and just show what MIC looks like in Scheme 10.1. Here MIC is synthesized in a few steps from the combination of phosgene, which is also very poisonous, and methylamine. Phosgene was used as a chemical weapon in World War I. So the UCIL plant was a Pandora s Box of lethal poisons. 

The intrepid balloonists of the nineteenth century were followed by aeronauts who used the principles of aerodynamics to fly unpowered gliders. The Wright brothers demonstrated sustained, controlled, powered aerodynamic flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft in 1903. The increasing altitude, payload, and speed capabilities of airplanes made them powerful weapons in World War I. Such advances improved flying skills, designs, and performance, though at a terrible cost in lives. 

Since the use of atomic weapons in World War II, a second set of principles relating to the technology has also emerged—one designed to govern its application in a manner beneficial to humanity. 

This compound was first used as a chemical weapon in World War I. It was sprayed as an aerosol mixture with other chemicals and exhibited a characteristic odor similar to that of mustard plants, thus the name mustard gas. Sulfur mustard is a powerful alkylating agent. The mechanism of alkylation involves a sequence of two Sn2 reactions ... 

Tris(2-chloroethyl)amine (3) was used under the name N-Lost as a chemical weapon in World War 1. 

After witnessing the effects of such weapons in World War I, it appeared that few countries wanted to be the first to introduce even deadlier chemical weapons on the World War II battlefields. However, preparations were made by many coimtries to retaliate in kind should chemical weapons be used in warfare. Chemical weapons were deployed on a large scale in almost all stages during World War I and World War II, leaving behind a legacy of old and abandoned chemical weapons that still presents a problem for many coimtries. 

Wikipedia, http //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical weapons in World War l, aceessed November 2014. 

Clark, D.K., 1959. Effectiveness of Chemical Weapons in World War I. Tactics Division, Operations Research Office, Johns Hopkins University, Bethesda, MD. Staff paper ORO-SP-88, DTIC AD-233081. 

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