Sesquimustard Explained

Sesquimustard (military code Q) is the organosulfur compound with the formula . Although it is a colorless solid, impure samples are often brown. The compound is a type of mustard gas, a vesicant used as a chemical weapon. From the chemical perspective, the compound is both a thioether and an alkyl chloride.

Because sesquimustard is a solid at room temperature, it is not as easily deployed as related liquid mustards. It was only ever deployed as mixtures with the original mustard, with phosgene, or as a solution. Since 1997, it has been listed under Schedule I of the Chemical Weapons Convention, as a substance with few uses outside of chemical warfare^{[1] [2] [3]} (although since then, it has been found to be useful in chemotherapy).^[4]

See also

• Half mustard
• HN3 (nitrogen mustard)
• O-Mustard
• Selenium mustard

Notes and References

1. Vocci . Frank J. . Ballard . Thomas A. . Yevich . Paul . Punte . Charles L. . 1963 . Inhalation toxicity studies with aerosols of sesqui-mustard . Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology . 5 . 6 . 677–684 . 10.1016/0041-008X(63)90061-9 . 14082474 . 2261517.
2. Gupta . A.K. . Dubey . D.K. . Kaushik . M.P. . 2007 . A simple and economical chemical neutralization method for the destruction of sulfur mustard and its analogues . Journal of Hazardous Materials . 139 . 1 . 154–159 . 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2006.06.016 . 16846683 . 2007JHzM..139..154G . 36625534.
3. Blum . Marc-Michael . Richter . Annika . Siegert . Markus . Thiermann . Horst . John . Harald . 2020 . Adduct of the blistering warfare agent sesquimustard with human serum albumin and its mass spectrometric identification for biomedical verification of exposure . Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry . 412 . 28 . 7723–7737 . 10.1007/s00216-020-02917-w . free . 7550388 . 32902690 . 221542205 . free.
4. Smith . Susan L. . War! What is it good for? Mustard gas medicine . CMAJ . 27 February 2017 . 189 . 8 . E321–E322 . 10.1503/cmaj.161032 . 28246228 . 5325736 .