Organic Chemical Attribution Signatures for the Sourcing of a Mustard Agent and Its Starting Materials.

Chemical attribution signatures (CAS) are being investigated for the sourcing of chemical warfare (CW) agents and their starting materials that may be implicated in chemical attacks or CW proliferation. The work reported here demonstrates for the first time trace impurities from the synthesis of tris(2-chloroethyl)amine (HN3) that point to the reagent and the specific reagent stocks used in the synthesis of this CW agent. Thirty batches of HN3 were synthesized using different combinations of commercial stocks of triethanolamine (TEA), thionyl chloride, chloroform, and acetone.

Synthesis of nonconjugated dendrons with a redox gradient.

Macromolecules with built-in redox gradients are of much interest due to their potential in a variety of optoelectronic and energy-harvesting applications. In this paper, the design and synthesis of nonconjugated dendrons with redox gradients to guide the charge flow from the core to the periphery is described. The dendrons reported here are based on benzyl ether connectivities.