A simple and economical chemical neutralization method for the destruction of sulfur mustard and its analogues

Unexpected Reaction Pathways Leading to Thiodiglycol During the Degradation of Long-Chain Sulfur Mustards

Degradation of long-chain sulfur mustards with various commercial decontaminants unexpectedly forms thiodiglycol (TDG) through unreported reaction pathways. Chemical warfare agents (CWAs) degradation products have to be unambiguously related to their reference compounds in order to fulfill international verification protocols. Thus, the formation of TDG using water-based decontaminants introduces an uncertainty in the origin of this chemical that has been systematically used to unambiguously demonstrate the presence of yperite in environmental and biomedical samples. Therefore, these novel and unprecedented degradation pathways will result either in modifications of the international verification protocols for forensic purposes or in the exclusion of TDG as an exclusive marker of yperite.

Mild, Selective Sulfoxidation with Molybdenum(VI) cis-Dioxo Catalysts

Three molybdenum(VI) cis-dioxo catalysts (8-10) were synthesized with the goal of developing stable and selective oxidation catalysts for sulfoxidation. Their reactivities were investigated with a variety of substrates. We have demonstrated the usefulness of these catalysts for the chemoselective sulfoxidation of sulfides in the presence of reactive moieties, which has important applications for total synthesis processes. Notably, these catalysts are able to oxidize compounds analogous to sulfur mustard and can be used as an alternative to sodium periodate or meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (m-CPBA) for the oxidation of various organic sulfides without sacrificing total conversion. As the catalysts are tolerant of water and hydrogen peroxide, they allow for the design of completely green oxidation reactions, particularly for sulfur-containing amino acids.