Nitrogen mustard hydrochloride

Hygroscopic leaflets from acetone or chloroform

White hygroscopic crystals

White, crystalline, hygroscopic powder

greater than or equal to 100 mg/mL at 66 °F (NTP, 1992)

Soluble in ethanol

Soluble in water at 1 g/100 ml

Breast Feeding; Lactation; Milk, Human; Antineoplastic Agents; Alkylating Agents; Irritants

FDA approved drugs -> Active ingredient

FDA approved drugs -> Active ingredient

226 to 232 °F (NTP, 1992)

109-111 °C

111.5 °C

Storage and shelf-life of unopened container: Two years when stored at 2-15 °C.

Dry crystals are stable at temperatures up to 40 °C.

Dry crystals are stable at temperatures up to 40 deg

Unstable in aqueous solution

Solutions of mechlorethamine hydrochloride decompose on standing; ... .

Danger

H300+H310 (97.5%): Fatal if swallowed or in contact with skin [Danger Acute toxicity, oral; acute toxicity, dermal]

P203, P260, P262, P264, P270, P280, P301+P316, P301+P330+P331, P302+P352, P302+P361+P354, P304+P340, P305+P354+P338, P316, P318, P321, P330, P361+P364, P363, P405, and P501 (click each P-code to see the statement)

Aggregated GHS information provided per 40 reports by companies from 3 notifications to the ECHA C&L Inventory. Each notification may be associated with multiple companies.

Hazard Traits - Carcinogenicity; Developmental Toxicity

The New Jersey Worker and Community Right to Know Act requires public and private employers to provide information about hazardous substances at their workplaces. (N.J.S.A. 34:5A-1 et. seq.)

SYMPTOMS: Symptoms of exposure to this compound may include irritation of the mucous membranes, vesication, burning sensation, destruction of tissues of the skin, eyes, mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract, shortness of breath and headache. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting and anorexia. It can cause irritation, severe damage and burns of the eyes, and necrotizing uveitis. Exposure can lead to depression of the formed elements in the blood, weakness, diarrhea, and rarely, jaundice, alopecia, vertigo, tinnitus, diminished hearing, hemolytic anemia, various chromosomal abnormalities, agranulocytosis, thrombocytopenia (which may lead to bleeding from the gums and gastrointestinal tract, petechiae and small subcutaneous hemorrhages), immunosuppression, erythema multiforme, delayed catamenia, severe and even uncontrollable depression of the hematopoietic system, persistent pancytopenia, oligomenorrhea, temporary or permanent amenorrhea, and in males, impaired spermatogenesis, azoospermia and total germinal aplasia. Other symptoms may include leukopenia, granulocytopenia, hypoplasia of all elements of bone marrow, lymphopenia and precipitation of uric acid in kidney tubules. It can cause myelosuppression and gastrointestinal symptoms. It can also cause hemorrhagic complications, maculopapular skin eruptions, herpes zoster, and on injection, thrombophlebitis. It can also cause thrombosis on injection. Exposure can also lead to latent viral infection and menstrual irregularities in women. Necrosis has occurred following extravascular injections.

The Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations List identifies currently marketed prescription drug products, incl mechlorethamine hydrochloride, approved on the basis of safety and effectiveness by FDA under sections 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

National Toxicology Program. Eleventh Report on Carcinogens (2005). The Report on Carcinogens is an informational scientific and public health document that identifies and discusses substances (including agents, mixtures, or exposure circumstances) that may pose a carcinogenic hazard to human health. Nitrogen Mustard Hydrochloride (55-86-7) is listed as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.[http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/eleventh/profiles/s123nitr.pdf]

Acute Tox. 2 (97.5%)

Carcinogens, Teratogens

Nitrogen mustard hydrochloride

30.00

2.2

Chemical Weapons/Chemical Weapons Precursors chemical material that, if stolen or diverted, can be converted into weapons using simple chemistry, equipment, or techniques.

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ Methods for transporting hazardous drugs to the health-care setting should be consistent with environmental protection and national or local regulations for transporting hazardous substances. When hazardous drugs are being transported to the home-care setting, appropriate containers (eg, lined cardboard boxes) and procedures should be used to prevent breakage and contain leakage. ... The drugs must be securely capped or sealed and properly packaged and protected during transport to reduce further the chance of breakage and spillage in a public area such as a corridor or elevator. /Antineoplastic agents/

EYES: First check the victim for contact lenses and remove if present. Flush victim's eyes with water or normal saline solution for 20 to 30 minutes while simultaneously calling a hospital or poison control center. Do not put any ointments, oils, or medication in the victim's eyes without specific instructions from a physician. IMMEDIATELY transport the victim after flushing eyes to a hospital even if no symptoms (such as redness or irritation) develop.

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ Spill kits containing all materials needed to clean up spills of hazardous drugs should be assembled or purchased. These kits should be readily available in all areas where hazardous drugs are routinely handled. If hazardous drugs are being prepared or administered in a nonroutine area (home setting or unusual patient-care area), a spill kit should be obtained by the drug handler. The kit should include two pairs of disposable gloves (one outer pair of utility gloves and one inner latex pair); low-permeability, disposable protective garments (coveralls or gown and shoe covers); safety glasses or splash goggles; respirator; absorbent, plastic-backed sheets or spill pads; disposable toweling; at least 2 sealable thick plastic hazardous waste disposal bags (prelabeled with an appropriate warning label); a disposable scoop for collecting glass fragments; and a puncture-resistant container for glass fragments. All individuals who routinely handle hazardous drugs must be trained in proper spill management and cleanup procedures. Spills and breakages must be cleaned up immediately according to the following procedures. If the spill is not located in a confined space, the spill area should be identified and other people should be prevented from approaching and spreading the contamination. Wearing protective apparel from the spill kit, workers should remove any broken glass fragments and place them in the puncture-resistant container. Liquids should be absorbed with a spill pad; powder should be removed with damp disposable gauze pads or soft toweling. The hazardous material should be completely removed and the area rinsed with water and then cleaned with detergent. The spill cleanup should proceed progressively from areas of lesser to greater contamination. The detergent should be thoroughly rinsed and removed. All contaminated materials should be placed in the disposal bags provided and sealed and transported to a designated containment receptacle. Spills occurring in the biohazard cabinet should be cleaned up immediately; a spill kit should be used if the volume exceeds 150 ml or the contents of one drug vial or ampule. If there is broken glass, utility gloves should be worn to remove it and place it in the puncture-resistant container located in the biohazard cabinet. The biological safety cabinet, including the drain spillage trough, should be thoroughly cleaned. If the spill is not easily and thoroughly contained, the biological safety cabinet should be decontaminated after cleanup. If the spill contaminates the high efficiency particulate air filter, use of the biological safety cabinet should be suspended until the cabinet has been decontaminated and the high efficiency particulate air filter replaced. /Antineoplastic agents/

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ If hazardous drugs are routinely prepared or administered in carpeted areas, special equipment is necessary to remove the spill. Absorbent powder should be substituted for pads or sheets and left in place on the spill for the time recommended by the manufacturer. The powder should then be picked up with a small vacuum unit reserved for hazardous drug cleanup. The carpet should then be cleaned according to usual procedures. The vacuum bag should be removed and discarded or cleaned, and the exterior of the vacuum cleaner should be washed with detergent and rinsed before being covered and stored. The contaminated powder should be discarded into a sealable plastic bag and segregated with other contaminated waste materials. Alternatively, inexpensive wet or dry vacuum units may be purchased for this express use and used with appropriate cleaners. All such units are contaminated, once used, and must be cleaned, stored, and ultimately discarded /properly/ ... The circumstances and handling of spills should be documented. Health-care personnel exposed during spill management should also complete an incident report or exposure form. /Antineoplastic agents/

SMALL SPILLS AND LEAKAGE: Should a spill occur while you are handling this chemical, FIRST REMOVE ALL SOURCES OF IGNITION, then you should dampen the solid spill material with 60-70% ethanol and transfer the dampened material to a suitable container. Use absorbent paper dampened with 60-70% ethanol to pick up any remaining material. Seal the absorbent paper, and any of your clothes, which may be contaminated, in a vapor-tight plastic bag for eventual disposal. Solvent wash all contaminated surfaces with 60-70% ethanol followed by washing with a soap and water solution. Do not reenter the contaminated area until the Safety Officer (or other responsible person) has verified that the area has been properly cleaned.

SRP: The most favorable course of action is to use an alternative chemical product with less inherent propensity for occupational exposure or environmental contamination. Recycle any unused portion of the material for its approved use or return it to the manufacturer or supplier. Ultimate disposal of the chemical must consider: the material's impact on air quality; potential migration in soil or water; effects on animal, aquatic, and plant life; and conformance with environmental and public health regulations.

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ All contaminated disposables should be contained in sealable bags for transfer to larger waste containers. /Antineoplastic agents/

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ All bottles must be discarded as contaminated waste after decontamination of the biohazard cabinet. All protective apparel (gown, gloves, goggles, and respirator) should be discarded as contaminated waste. /Antineoplastic agents/

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ The contaminated filters must be removed, bagged in thick plastic and prepared for disposal in a hazardous waste dump site or incinerator licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). /Antineoplastic agents/

For more Disposal Methods (Complete) data for MECHLORETHAMINE HYDROCHLORIDE (8 total), please visit the HSDB record page.

SRP: The scientific literature for the use of contact lenses in industry is conflicting. The benefit or detrimental effects of wearing contact lenses depend not only upon the substance, but also on factors including the form of the substance, characteristics and duration of the exposure, the uses of other eye protection equipment, and the hygiene of the lenses. However, there may be individual substances whose irritating or corrosive properties are such that the wearing of contact lenses would be harmful to the eye. In those specific cases, contact lenses should not be worn. In any event, the usual eye protection equipment should be worn even when contact lenses are in place.

Contact with skin: Wash immediately with large amounts of water. Can be neutralized with sodium thiosulphate or sodium bicarbonate.

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ Accidental contamination of the health-care environment, resulting in exposure of personnel, patients, visitors, and family members to hazardous substances, is prevented by maintaining the physical integrity and security of packages of hazardous drugs. 1. Access to all areas where hazardous drugs are stored is limited to specified authorized staff. 2. A method should be present for identifying to personnel those drugs that require special precautions (eg, cytotoxics). One way to accomplish this is to apply appropriate warning labels to all hazardous drug containers, shelves, and bins where the drug products are stored. ... 3. A method of identifying, for patients and family members, those drugs that require special precautions in the home should be in place. This may be accomplished in the health-care setting, by providing specific labeling for discharge medications, along with written instructions. 4. Methods for identifying shipping cartons of hazardous drugs should be required from manufacturers and distributors of these drugs. 5. Written procedures for handling damaged packages of hazardous drugs should be maintained. Personnel involved in shipping and receiving hazardous drugs should be trained in these procedures, including the proper use of protective garments and equipment. Damaged shipping cartons of hazardous drugs should be received and opened in an isolated area (eg, in a laboratory fume hood, if available, not in a vertical laminar airflow biological safety cabinet used for preparing sterile products). /Antineoplastic agents/

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ Facilities (eg, shelves, carts, counters, and trays) for storing hazardous drugs are designed to prevent breakage and to limit contamination in the event of leakage. Bins, shelves with barriers at the front, or other design features that reduce the chance of drug containers falling to the floor should be used. Hazardous drugs requiring refrigeration should be stored separately from nonhazardous drugs in individual bins designed to prevent breakage and to contain leakage. /Antineoplastic agents/

For more Preventive Measures (Complete) data for MECHLORETHAMINE HYDROCHLORIDE (21 total), please visit the HSDB record page.

0.0026 [mg/m3]

0.029 [mg/m3]

0.17 [mg/m3]

MINIMUM PROTECTIVE CLOTHING: If Tyvek-type disposable protective clothing is not worn during handling of this chemical, wear disposable Tyvek-type sleeves taped to your gloves.

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ Protective apparel: Disposable closed-front gown or coveralls, disposable utility gloves over disposable latex gloves, NIOSH-approved air-purifying half-mask respirator equipped with a high efficiency filter, and eye protection should be worn. /Antineoplastic agents/

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ Class 100 clean-air work stations, both horizontal and vertical airflow (with no containment characteristics), are inappropriate engineering controls for handling hazardous drugs because they provide no personnel protection and permit environmental contamination. Although there are no engineering controls designed specifically for the safe handling of hazardous chemicals as sterile products, Class II contained vertical-flow biological safety cabinets (biohazard cabinets) have been adopted for this use. Biohazard cabinetry is, however, designed for the handling of infectious agents, not hazardous chemicals. ... Based on design, ease of use, and cost considerations, Class II contained-vertical-flow biohazard cabinetry is currently recommended for use in preparing sterile doses of hazardous drugs. Class II cabinetry design and performance specifications are defined in NSF Standard 49. Biological safety cabinets selected for use with hazardous drugs should meet NSF Standard 49 specifications to ensure the maximum protection from these engineering controls. /Antineoplastic agents/

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ Workers should wear powder free, disposable surgical latex gloves of good quality when preparing hazardous drugs. Selection criteria for gloves should include thickness (especially at the fingertips where stress is the greatest), fit, length, and tactile sensation. ... The practice of double gloving is supported by research that indicates that many glove materials vary in drug permeability even within lots; therefore, double gloving is recommended. ... In general, surgical latex gloves fit better, have appropriate elasticity for double gloving and maintaining the integrity of the glove-gown interface, and have sufficient tactile sensation (even during double gloving) for stringent aseptic procedures. ... Powdered gloves should be avoided. /Antineoplastic agents/

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ Workers who are not protected by the containment environment of a biohazard cabinet should use respiratory protection when handling hazardous drugs. Respiratory protection should be an adjunct to and not a substitute for engineering controls. Surgical masks of all types provide no respiratory protection against powdered or liquid aerosols of hazardous drugs. In situations where workers may be exposed to potential eye contact with hazardous drugs, an appropriate plastic face shield or splash goggles should be worn. /Antineoplastic agents/

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ During compounding of hazardous drugs (eg, crushing, dissolving, and preparing an ointment), workers should wear low permeability gowns and double gloves. Compounding should take place in a protective area such as a disposable glove box. If compounding must be done in the open, an area away from drafts and traffic must be selected, and the worker should use appropriate respiratory protection. /Antineoplastic agents/

Morphine and pethidine hydrochloride significantly potentiated mechlorethamine hydrochloride toxicity. The potentiation seems dose related. Morphine converted sublethal doses of mechlorethamine to maximal LD's.

In HT29 human colon carcinoma cells, amphotericin b (approx 120 ug/ml) increased uptake of mechlorethamine hydrochloride due to increases in vmax without change in km.

Mechlorethamine may raise the concentration of blood uric acid; dosage adjustment of antigout agents may be necessary to control hyperuricemia and gout; allopurinol may be preferred to prevent or reverse mechlorethamine-induced hyperuricemia because of risk of uric acid nephropathy with uricosuric antigout agents.

Leukopenic and/or thrombocytopenic effects of mechlorethamine may be increased with concurrent or recent therapy /with blood dyscrasia-causing medications/ if these medications cause the same effects; dosage adjustment of mechlorethamine, if necessary, should be based on blood counts.

For more Interactions (Complete) data for MECHLORETHAMINE HYDROCHLORIDE (8 total), please visit the HSDB record page.

Alkylating agents work by three different mechanisms: 1) attachment of alkyl groups to DNA bases, resulting in the DNA being fragmented by repair enzymes in their attempts to replace the alkylated bases, preventing DNA synthesis and RNA transcription from the affected DNA, 2) DNA damage via the formation of cross-links (bonds between atoms in the DNA) which prevents DNA from being separated for synthesis or transcription, and 3) the induction of mispairing of the nucleotides leading to mutations. Mechlorethamine is cell cycle phase-nonspecific.

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ There is no method available for routine monitoring of personnel for evidence of hazardous drug exposure. Tests for the presence of mutagens or chromosomal damage are not drug specific and are of value only in controlled studies. Chemical analysis of urine for the presence of hazardous drugs at the sensitivity level needed to detect occupational exposure is limited to a few drugs and is not yet commercially available. /Antineoplastic agents/

/SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS/ Adverse CNS effects which have occurred following IV administration of mechlorethamine include weakness, headache, drowsiness, vertigo, lightheadedness, convulsions, progressive muscle paralysis, paresthesia, cerebral degeneration, coma, and death. Serious neurotoxicity appears to be a problem only when high doses or intra-arterial and regional perfusion administration techniques are used. Immediate and delayed neurotoxicity, sometimes severe, has been reported in patients receiving higher than recommended doses of the drug in preparation for bone marrow transplantation; neurotoxicity appeared to increase with age and dose administered and occurred more frequently in patients who also received procarbazine or cyclophosphamide.

/CASE REPORTS/ ... Four women with Hodgkin's disease ... treated with mechlorethamine during first and third (1 case) or second & third (3 cases) trimesters of pregnancy. No abnormalities were recorded in offspring at 2 months, 8.5, 7.5 and 9.5 yr.

/CASE REPORTS/ 52 yr old woman with lymphocytic lymphoma received chemotherapy including mechlorethamine; iv, 9 mg on day 1 and 4.5 mg on day 8. Within 1 hr of administration she developed facial angioneurotic edema after each course of therapy.

Drug Induced Liver Injury Rank (DILIrank 2.0)

Mechlorethamine hydrochloride

Ambiguous-DILI-concern

3

Warnings & precautions

DOI:10.1016/j.drudis.2016.02.015

/LABORATORY ANIMALS: Acute Exposure/ Endocochlear DC potential decreased rapidly after injection of mechlorethamine hydrochloride. Amplitude of cochlear microphonics potential diminished rapidly and no substantial recoveries were observed in guinea pigs.

/LABORATORY ANIMALS: Acute Exposure/ The short term ipsilateral and contralateral responses of the rabbit eye to topical 1% nitrogen mustard (mechlorethamine hydrochloride) were studied by measurement of protein in the aqueous humor, anterior segment fluorescein angiography and aqueous fluorophotometry. The ipsilateral response was characterized by intense miosis, ischemia of iris (due to increased intraocular pressure) and leakage of fluorescein into posterior chamber. The iris ischemia was at least partly secondary to the pronounced elevation of intraocular pressure that occurred following nitrogen mustard. A contralateral rise in protein levels in the aqueous humor occurred in 5 of 22 rabbits. No contralateral iris ischemia or miosis was observed. Neither the ipsilateral nor the contralateral response was inhibited by pretreatment with aspirin. Aqueous fluorophotometry was only slightly more sensitive in detecting a contralateral response than simple measurement of protein levels in the aqueous.

/LABORATORY ANIMALS: Subchronic or Prechronic Exposure/ Fetal lung tissue from BALB/C mice was exposed to nitrogen mustard hydrochloride at concentrations of 1.5x10+4 to1.5x10+6 ringer's solution for 15-60 min and then implanted as a suspension into thigh muscles of young adult mice of the same strain. The implants were examined 10 wk to 6 months later and some were found to contain pulmonary adenomas /none appeared in controls/.

/LABORATORY ANIMALS: Chronic Exposure or Carcinogenicity/ A group of 37 male and female a mice, 2-3 mo old received 2-4 iv injections of 1 mg/kg body wt of nitrogen mustard hydrochloride in 0.01 ml distilled water at 2-day intervals; 38 controls received distilled water alone. After 16 wk, 29/29 test mice had developed lung tumors (3.5 tumors/mouse), compared with 4/30 controls (0.17 tumors/mouse).

For more Non-Human Toxicity Excerpts (Complete) data for MECHLORETHAMINE HYDROCHLORIDE (9 total), please visit the HSDB record page.

Classification of carcinogenicity: 1) evidence in humans: limited; 2) evidence in animals: sufficient. Overall summary evaluation of carcinogenic risk to humans is Group 2A: The agent is probably carcinogenic to humans. /Mechlorethamine; From table/

Nitrogen Mustard Hydrochloride: reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.

/PRECAUTIONS FOR ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS:/ The danger to health-care personnel from handling a hazardous drug stems from a combination of its inherent toxicity and the extent to which workers are exposed to the drug in the course of carrying out their duties. This exposure may be through inadvertent ingestion of the drug on foodstuffs (eg, workers' lunches), inhalation of drug dusts or droplets or direct skin contact. /Antineoplastic agents/

The Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations List identifies currently marketed prescription drug products, incl mechlorethamine hydrochloride, approved on the basis of safety and effectiveness by FDA under sections 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Nitrogen mustard hydrochloride

30.00

2.2

Chemical Weapons/Chemical Weapons Precursors chemical material that, if stolen or diverted, can be converted into weapons using simple chemistry, equipment, or techniques.

Mechlorethamine, as an alkylating agent, interferes with DNA replication and transcription of RNA and ultimately results in the disruption of nucleic acid function. Mechlorethamine also possesses weak immunosuppressive activity.

Mechlorethamine, as an alkylating agent, interferes with DNA replication and transcription of RNA, and ultimately results in the disruption of nucleic acid function.

Following its in vivo admin, mechlorethamine or its hydrochloride is probably converted into ethyleneimmonium ion which reacts with guanine residues in /either the same or/ adjacent strands of DNA as well as with SH groups.

Undergoes rapid chemical transformation and combines with water or reactive compounds of cells, so that the drug is no longer present in active form a few minutes after administration. Half Life: 15 minutes

MECHLORETHAMINE HYDROCHLORIDE

Alkylating Activity [MoA]; Alkylating Drug [EPC]

Highly reactive chemicals that introduce alkyl radicals into biologically active molecules and thereby prevent their proper functioning. Many are used as antineoplastic agents, but most are very toxic, with carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, and immunosuppressant actions. They have also been used as components in poison gases.

Chemicals that are used to cause the disturbance, disease, or death of humans during WARFARE.

Drugs that act locally on cutaneous or mucosal surfaces to produce inflammation; those that cause redness due to hyperemia are rubefacients; those that raise blisters are vesicants and those that penetrate sebaceous glands and cause abscesses are pustulants; tear gases and mustard gases are also irritants.

A class of drugs that differs from other alkylating agents used clinically in that they are monofunctional and thus unable to cross-link cellular macromolecules. Among their common properties are a requirement for metabolic activation to intermediates with antitumor efficacy and the presence in their chemical structures of N-methyl groups, that after metabolism, can covalently modify cellular DNA. The precise mechanisms by which each of these drugs acts to kill tumor cells are not completely understood. (From AMA, Drug Evaluations Annual, 1994, p2026)

Following IV injection, the drug undergoes rapid chemical transformation and unchanged mechlorethamine is undetectable in the blood within a few minutes. Less than 0.01% of an IV dose is excreted unchanged in the urine.

Mice given 35 mg/kg body wt mechlorethamine hydrochloride iv and examined by autoradiography had significant levels of compound in brain, spinal cord, lung and submaxillary glands.

Mechlorethamine is incompletely absorbed following intracavitary administration, probably because of rapid deactivation by body fluids.

MEDICATION

Antineoplastic agent

Its use as chemosterilant and as cross-linking agent in mfr of ion exchange fibers was investigated. /mechlorethamine hydrochloride/

MEDICATION (VET)

For the palliative treatment of Hodgkin's disease (Stages III and IV), lymphosarcoma, chronic myelocytic or chronic lymphocytic leukemia, polycythemia vera, mycosis fungoides, and bronchogenic carcinoma. Also for the palliative treatment of metastatic carcinoma resulting in effusion.

Nitrogen mustard hydrochloride can be prepared by treating N-methyldiethanolamine with thionyl chloride.

After purification, base may then be converted conveniently to hydrochloride by dissolving it in suitable organic solvent and passing hydrochloride into solution.