Chemical Agents – Small Molecules with Deadly Properties

Altmann, Hans‐Jürgen; Oelze, Silke; Niemeyer, Bernd

doi:10.1002/9783527650163.ch3

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Conversely, compounds of a greater hydrophilic character such as sarin penetrate more deeply into the lungs. Notably, vapor pressure and volatility are key properties to determine the environmental persistency of the compounds, as less volatile compounds such as VX are endowed with a greater environmental persistency with respect to more volatile compounds such as sarin. , …”

Section: The Chemistry Of Nerve Agentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nerve Agents: What They Are, How They Work, How to Counter Them

Costanzi¹,

Machado

Mitchell³

2018

ACS Chem. Neurosci.

189

113

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Nerve agents are organophosphorus chemical warfare agents that exert their action through the irreversible inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, with a consequent overstimulation of cholinergic transmission followed by its shutdown. Beyond warfare, they have notoriously been employed in acts of terrorism as well as high profile assassinations. After a brief historical introduction on the development and deployment of nerve agents, this review provides a survey of their chemistry, the way they affect cholinergic transmission, the available treatment options, and the current directions for their improvement. As the review illustrates, despite their merits, the currently available treatment options present several shortcomings. Current research directions involve the search for improved antidotes, antagonists of the nicotinic receptors, small-molecule pretreatment options, as well as bioscavengers as macromolecular pretreatment options. These efforts are making good progress in many different directions and, hopefully, will lead to a lower target susceptibility, thus reducing the appeal of nerve agents as chemical weapons.

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Section: The Chemistry Of Nerve Agentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nerve Agents: What They Are, How They Work, How to Counter Them

Costanzi¹,

Machado

Mitchell³

2018

ACS Chem. Neurosci.

189

113

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…From all studied CWAs, VX is the most difficult substrate to destroy, the rate constants of its methanolysis being determined only for the first 5 min of reaction, after this interval the reaction is too slow and the reaction mechanism too complicated a The median lethal dose (LD 50 ) for humans during skin contact with the toxic compound was estimated according to Ref. [28]. b The decontamination rate was calculated as the percentage of toxic compound consumed from the initial quantity after performing the reaction.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%