Bis-(2-chloroethyl)sulfide

BeschreibungMustard gas/sulphur mustard is an organic chemical substance synthesised by treating sulphur dichloride with ethylene. Mustard gas is a chemical substance closely related to chemical warfare class agents. It is a cytotoxic and vesicant chemical substance, and exposures are known to cause blisters on the exposed skin. Pure mustard gas/sulphur mustards are colourless, viscous liquids at room temperature. However, when used in impure form, such as warfare agents, they appear as yellow brown in colour. As the name indicates, mustard gas has an odour resembling the garlic, horseradish, or mustard plants. Mustard gas is the common name given to 1,1-thiobis(2-chloroethane), a chemical warfare agent that is believed to have first been used near Ypres in Flanders on 12 July 1917. Mustard gas is a thick liquid at ambient temperature. It is heavier than water as a liquid and heavier than air as a vapour. It does not occur naturally in the environment. Pure liquid mustard gas is colourless and odourless. It is stable, combustible, and incompatible with strong oxidising agents. Mustard gas on mixing with other chemical substances appears brown in colour and gives off a garlic-like smell. When heated, it decomposes and emits highly toxic, corrosive fumes and fumes of oxides of sulphur and chlorine-containing compounds. It is soluble in fats and oils, gasoline, kerosene, acetone, carbon tetrachloride, alcohol, tetrachloroethane, ethylbenzoate, and ether, and solubility in water is negligible. It is miscible with the OP nerve agents. During earlier years, mustard gas was in use as an important chemical warfare agent. In fact, it was used in large amounts during World Wars I and II. Mustard gas was first used by the German army in 1917. It was one of the most lethal of all the poisonous chemicals used during the war. It was reportedly used in the Iran–Iraq war in 1980–1988. It is not presently used in the United States, except for research purposes.

VerwendenFormerly in chemical warfare. In biological studies of alkylating agents.