The Synthesis and Toxicological Characterization of Neurotoxic Chemical Agents Simulants

Abstract

Neurotoxic warfare chemical agents (CWA/NA) induce major toxicological effects to the affected personnel. Their increased toxicity justifies the necessity of developing analytical methods for diagnosis and specific medical counter measures. CWA/NA are extremely toxic agents which are subject to international regulations (The Geneva Protocol regarding the prohibition of chemical weapons). Taking into account the ban on human experimenting due to high toxicity, simulators of neurotoxic chemical agents are being used in laboratories. These are analogue chemical compounds which possess the same relevant physical, chemical and pharmacodynamical properties of the corresponding agents, but with lower intrinsical toxicity. The synthesis and toxicological characterization of these simulators of neurotoxic chemical agents allow the laboratory research of these extremely toxic compounds and the unfolding of risk-free antidote studies. This paper proposes the synthesis and toxicological testing of chemical compounds which simulate sarin (4-nitrophenyl isopropyl methylphosphonate - NIMP) and VX (4-nitrophenyl ethyl methylphosphonate - NEMP).