Adamsite
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| General | ||||||||||||||||
| Surname | Adamsite | |||||||||||||||
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| Molecular formula | C 12 H 9 AsClN | |||||||||||||||
| Brief description |
Canary-yellow to green, pungent-smelling solid |
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| properties | ||||||||||||||||
| Molar mass | 277.58 g mol −1 | |||||||||||||||
| Physical state |
firmly |
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| density |
1.65 g cm −3 (at 20 ° C) |
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| Melting point |
195 ° C |
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| boiling point |
Decomposition from 410 ° C |
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| Vapor pressure |
<0.00011 mmHg (25 ° C) |
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| solubility |
almost insoluble in water |
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| As far as possible and customary, SI units are used. Unless otherwise noted, the data given apply to standard conditions . | ||||||||||||||||
Adamsite is a nose and throat warfare agent with very low vapor pressure . The compound was developed independently in 1915 by the German chemist Heinrich Otto Wieland and in 1918 by his American colleague Roger Adams . The substance was named after Roger Adams.
The arsenic-containing organic compound irritates the nose and throat. Its effect is comparable to that of diphenylarsine chloride , but it exceeds it. Adamsite was therefore intended as a mask breaker in the so-called Buntschießen during World War I , but in contrast to the related substances diphenylarsine chloride and diphenylarsine cyanide, it was not used, although several warring parties had produced larger quantities of it. It was last used in the 1960s in the Vietnam War. In 2003 it was reported that North Korea was producing and storing large quantities of the substance.
effect
Adamsite has a short but clearly pronounced latency period between exposure to the substance and the appearance of the first symptoms. This intermediate time of up to three minutes makes the adamsite as a police weapon only of limited interest nowadays, since the police use more advanced tear gas with a lower latency period. Nevertheless, adamsite is still used by the police in some states to dissolve crowds with the help of the relatively intense effects of the warfare agent. After the delay period, salivation and secretion of nasal secretions first set in, followed by coughing and sneezing, nausea and vomiting and finally frontal sinus pain, shortness of breath and severe pain behind the breastbone, which often intensify for hours after the person concerned is removed from the poisoned atmosphere can cause anxiety in the poisoned person.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Entry on 10-chloro-5,10-dihydrophenarsazine in the GESTIS substance database of the IFA , accessed on February 16, 2017(JavaScript required) .
- ^ Aberdeen Proving Ground, Transportable Treatment Systems for Non-stockpile Chemical Warfare Materiel: Environmental Impact Statement . 2001 ( books.google.de ).
- ↑ Not explicitly listed in Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 (CLP) , but with the specified labeling it falls under the group entry arsenic compounds, with the exception of those named in this appendix in the Classification and Labeling Inventory of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) on February 1, 2016. Manufacturers or distributors can expand the harmonized classification and labeling .
- ^ North Korea Profile - Chemical Agents ( Memento July 29, 2005 in the Internet Archive ).
literature
- Haas, R. et al. (1998): Chemical-analytical investigation of arsenic warfare agents and their metabolites. UWSF - Z Umweltchem Ecotox ; 10, 289-293; PDF (free full text access)
- M. Bäsig, H. Gorges, H. Kießlich-Köcher, B. Martin, R. Stohr: Chemical warfare agents and protection against chemical warfare agents , Military Publishing House of the GDR, Berlin 1977, p. 136 ff.