Chemical forensic profiling and attribution signature determination of sarin nerve agent using GC-MS, LC-MS and NMR.

Sarin is a highly toxic nerve agent classified by the Chemical Weapon Convention as a Schedule 1 chemical with no use other than to kill or injure. Moreover, in recent times, chemical warfare agents have been deployed against both military and civilian populations. Chemical warfare agents always contain minor impurities that can provide important chemical attribution signatures (CAS) that can aid in forensic investigations.

Toward Novel Antioxidants: Preparation of Dihydrotellurophenes and Selenophenes by Alkyltelluride-Mediated Tandem S(RN)1/S(H)i Reactions(1).

Reaction of 1-(2-iodophenyl)-1-methyloxirane (12) with 2 equiv of sodium n-butyltellurolate (n-BuTeNa), generated by the sodium borohydride reduction of di-n-butyl ditelluride, in THF, affords 2,3-dihydro-3-hydroxy-3-methylbenzo[b]tellurophene (13) in 62% yield, together with a small quantity of 1-(n-butyltelluro)-2-phenyl-2-propanol (27). This transformation presumably involves a tandem S(RN)1/S(H)i sequence. Similar reactions of 1-(benzylseleno)-2-phenyl-2-propanol (5a, R = Me) and 1-allyloxy-2-iodobenzene (15) afforded 2,3-dihydro-3-hydroxy-3-methylbenzo[b]selenophene (17, 74%), and 3-(n-butyltelluro)methyl-2,3-dihydrobenzo[b]furan (18, 50%), respectively.