Chemical threat agents can be produced by multiple synthetic methods, using materials and chemicals from various sources. Depending on the methods of production, the chemistries often produce distinct chemical signatures (i.e. trace amounts of impurities, reaction side products, decomposition products, and unreacted precursors that are present in the final product). These chemical signatures and their relative concentrations compose a synthetic route’s chemical attribution signature (CAS) profile. In our on-going efforts to generate CAS profile data, we synthesized the chemical warfare agent <i>O</i>-isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate (Sarin; GB) using six synthetic methods and analyzed the GB samples by chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and Proton Decoupled Phosphorus Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (31P{H}-NMR). Through analysis of the samples, chemical signatures were identified and CAS profiles were generated for the different GB synthetic pathways. Results indicate that, in the event of an incident involving chemical threat agents, CAS profiles would help forensic investigators determine how suspected chemical threat agents were produced.<br/><br/>Additionally, a brief overview of two other projects — CAS profile determination of S-(2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl O-ethyl methylphosphonothioate (VX) and CAS profile determination of sulfur mustard (HD) in collaboration with the Swedish Research Defense Agency —will be presented.

Small-scale production of chemical warfare agents for chemical attribution signature determination

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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