IPOL 8559
Science and Technology
NPTS
Chemistry Segment Instructor: Mark
Bishop
“If…in the future wars we are to avoid gross
mismanagement in high places and
panic…among the masses, it is essential that
everyone should learn elementary science, and
that politicians and soldiers should not be proud
of their ignorance of it...”
J. B. S. Haldane
It’s All About Communication.
• Goal: To get you to the place where you can
– Follow (and contribute to) discussions of
chemistry-related issues, such as those related
to explosives and chemical weapons.
– More easily read papers and books that include
descriptions of these topics.
• For example, by the end of the chemistry
segment, you will be better equipped to
understand the information found in articles you
read this week on the possible use of chemical
weapons in Syria.
thecable.foreignpolicy.com 1/15/13
• Exclusive: Secret State Department cable: Chemical
weapons used in Syria Posted by Josh Rogin
• United States diplomats in Turkey conducted a previously
undisclosed, intensive investigation into claims that Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons, and
made what an Obama administration official who reviewed the
cable called a "compelling case" that Assad's military forces
had used a deadly form of poison gas.
• The cable, signed by the U.S. consul general in Istanbul,
Scott Frederic Kilner, and sent to State Department
headquarters in Washington last week, outlined the results of
the consulate's investigation into reports from inside Syria that
chemical weapons had been used in the city of Homs on Dec.
23.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/01/15/secret_state_department_cable_
chemical_weapons_used_in_syria
thecable.foreignpolicy.com 1/15/13
• Many believe that Assad is testing U.S. red lines.
• Experts say the symptoms match the effects of Agent 15,
known also by its NATO code BZ, which is a CX-level
incapacitating agent that is controlled under schedule 2 of the
Chemical Weapons Convention, to which Syria is not a
party.
• "The symptoms of an incapacitating agent are temporary. If
someone is exposed to BZ, they are likely to be confused,
perhaps to hallucinate," said Amy Smithson, a senior fellow
with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
"While it is not good news that a chemical agent of any kind
may have been used in the Syrian conflict, this Agent 15 is
certainly on the less harmful end of the spectrum of chemical
warfare agents believed to be in the Syrian arsenal."
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/01/15/secret_state_department_cable_
chemical_weapons_used_in_syria
thecable.foreignpolicy.com 1/15/13
• The lightly affected people exhibited gastrointestinal
symptoms, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.
• "The main symptom of the respiratory ailments was
bronchial secretions. This particular symptom was the
cause of the death of all of the people. All of them died
choking on their own secretions."
• "They all had miosis -- pinpoint pupils. They also had
generalized muscle pain. There were also bad
symptoms as far as their central nervous system. There
were generalized seizures and some patients had
partial seizures. In addition, there was acute mental
confusion presented by hallucinations, delusions,
personality changes, and behavioral changes."
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/01/15/secret_state_department_cable_
chemical_weapons_used_in_syria
thecable.foreignpolicy.com 1/15/13
• The doctors on the scene said they were not able to
pinpoint the poison because they lacked the advanced
laboratory equipment needed. They took blood, hair,
saliva, and urine samples, but those samples are no
longer viable for testing because too much time has
passed, they said.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/01/15/secret_state_department_cable_
chemical_weapons_used_in_syria
thecable.foreignpolicy.com 1/16/13
• State Dept.: We do not believe chemical weapons
used in Syria Posted By Josh Rogin
• Today, [State Department spokeswoman Victoria
Nuland] publicly acknowledged the existence of the
secret cable for the first time but said that The Cable's
report "did not accurately convey the anecdotal
information that we had received from a third party
regarding an alleged incident in Syria in December."
• "At the time we looked into the allegations that were
made and the information that we had received, and
we found no credible evidence to corroborate or to
confirm that chemical weapons were used," she said.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/01/16/state_dept_we_do_not_believe_c
hemical_weapons_used_in_syria
Agent 15
•
•
•
•
An incapacitant
Similar, if not identical, to BZ.
Little information is known publicly
In February 1998, the British Ministry of
Defense accused Iraq of having stockpiled
large amounts of Agent 15.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-Quinuclidinyl_benzilate
BZ
• 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate (BZ) - military incapacitating
agent.
• Related to atropine
• Competitive inhibitor of acetylcholine at receptor
sites in smooth muscle, exocrine glands, autonomic
ganglia, and the brain
• Decreases the effective concentration of acetylcholine
seen by receptors at these sites.
• Opposite of effects in nerve agent poisoning.
• Effects include stupor, confusion, and hallucinations.
• Schedule 2 of the Chemical Weapons Convention
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-Quinuclidinyl_benzilate
Physostigmine - BZ Antidote
• An anticholinesterase, which temporarily raises
acetylcholine concentrations by binding
reversibly to acetylcholinesterase, the
enzyme responsible for the breakdown of
acetylcholine in the synaptic cleft of the
neuromuscular junction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-Quinuclidinyl_benzilate
Nuclear Threat Initiative – Syrian
Chemical Weapons
• The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization with a mission to strengthen global security by
reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of
nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and to work to
build the trust, transparency, and security that are preconditions
to the ultimate fulfillment of the Non-Proliferation Treaty’s goals
and ambitions.
• “Between late November and early December 2012, Western
intelligence agencies obtained clear evidence that Syrian
government units were preparing chemical weapons for potential
use. At one base, soldiers were observed to be mixing precursor
chemicals and taking other steps to make the chemical weapons
battlefield ready. Surveillance photos further confirmed another
army unit loading chemical weapons onto special military
transport vehicles.”
http://www.nti.org/country-profiles/syria/chemical/
Sarin (GB)
• Most easily prepared from
methylphosphonyl difluoride and isopropyl alcohol.
CH3P(O)F2 + (CH3)2CHOH → [(CH3)2CHO]CH3P(O)F + HF
+
P
H3C
O
H2N
O
H
Isopropyl
amine
F
F
methylphosphonic
difluoride
Isopropyl
alcohol
+ H F
P
O
H3C
O
F
O-isopropyl
methylphosphonofluoridate
“Sarin”
US asks Turkey, Jordan to secure chem
weapons if Syria crisis worsens (1/17/13)
• Syria devised its nerve weapons as binary
agents, in which two less toxic chemicals are
routinely stored in large, separated canisters
and then loaded into separate compartments
inside a bomb. For example, sarin uses a
formulation of alcohol, plus another chemical.
The agents combine to pose their most lethal
threat only when launched or during flight,
making them relatively easy to handle or
transport before then – by the Syrian military
or by terrorists and militant groups.
http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/17/16549397-us-asks-turkeyjordan-to-secure-chem-weapons-if-syria-crisis-worsens?lite
Common CW Munition Types
Unitary Munitions
• Easier to produce
• More dangerous to store,
handle & transport
VX
Binary Munitions (sarin)
Separator
MD
Burster
Alcohol,
promoter
Two non-lethal compounds
• Firing, spin flight & detonation
mix compounds to form agent
Fuse
• Relatively safer to handle &
store
• Munition challenging to
manufacture
• Methylphosphonyl difluoride +
72% isopropanol and 28%
isopropylamine
U.S. Wants to Move Syrian Chemical
Arms to Nearby States for Incineration
• The United States is in talks with the governments
in Iraq, Jordan and Turkey on potentially relocating
Syrian chemical weapons to protected armed
forces installations on their territory for
destruction, the Center for Public
Integrity reported on Thursday.
• Under the envisioned plan should Syria's Bashar
Assad government collapse, the United States and
allies would set up over six months to a year
incinerating equipment in the host countries that
could eliminate the large majority of chemical
warfare materials in about a year.
http://www.nti.rsvp1.com/gsn/article/us-providing-turkey-jordan-cw-protection-gearcase-crisis/?mgh=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nti.org&mgf=1
Destruction of VX
• VX can be converted into safer substances by combining it
with a concentrated solution of sodium hydroxide, NaOH.
• The reaction is called hydrolysis, in which water, H2O,
divides into H, which combines with one part of a molecule,
and OH, which combines with another part of the molecule,
splitting the molecule into two parts.
Deeper Understanding of What You Read
• Syria articles issues
–
–
–
–
–
–
What are the different chemical weapons?
What is the Chemical Weapons Convention?
What is an incapacitating agent?
What are the symptoms of exposure?
Are they difficult to make?
How carefully do they need to be handled? How difficult
are they to transport?
– How are chemical agents dispersed?
– What are the treatments for exposure?
– What happens to chemical agents as they age?
Deeper Understanding of What You Read
• Syria articles issues (cont.)
– What are Agent 15 and BZ? What are their effects of
exposure?
– How are molecular structures described symbolically?
– What is atropine? What does it mean to be a
competitive inhibitor of acetylcholine at receptor sites?
– What are nerve agents?
– What are the schedules for the Chemical Weapons
Convention?
Deeper Understanding of What You Read
• Syria articles issues (cont.)
– What does the following mean? An anticholinesterase,
which temporarily raises acetylcholine concentrations
by binding reversibly to acetylcholinesterase, the
enzyme responsible for the breakdown of acetylcholine
in the synaptic cleft of the neuromuscular junction.
– What are precursor chemical?
– What are binary weapons?
– How are chemical weapons destroyed?
Example 1:
Octanitrocubane (ONC)
• Detonation equation
C8(NO2)8(s) → 8CO2(g) + 4N2(g)
• The volume expansion is about 1150 fold.
• The energy released is about 3475 kJ/mol.
General Information
Email
mbishop@chiralpublishingcompany.com
mbishop@miis.edu
Web Sites
http://preparatorychemistry.com
http://institutebishop.org/science_technology.htm
Recommended Reading
• An Introduction to Chemistry – Atoms First by
Mark Bishop
http://preparatorychemistry.com/Bishop_Payment_MIIS.htm
http://preparatorychemistry.com/Bishop_Atoms_First.htm
• War of Nerves – Chemical Warfare from World
War I to Al-Qaeda by Jonathan B. Tucker
ISBN 978-1-4000-3233-4
• Toxic Terror by Jonathan B. Tucker
ISBN 978-0262700719
• The Chemistry of Explosives by Jacqueline
Akhavan
ISBN 978-1-84973-330-4
Assignment
• This will begin after the fifth chemistry module lecture.
• You will divide yourselves into groups of four.
• Two people in each group will pretend to be either
terrorists or a country’s military leaders and plan a
simulated chemical weapons attack...choosing the target,
the chemical weapon, the means of delivery, the source of
the chemical weapon, and the means of transporting the
chemicals.
• Two people in each group will act as the security team
attempting to stop the attack.
• The terrorists or military leaders will provide subtle clues to
the security people.
Assignment 1
• The security pair can tell the terrorists what
they are looking for, and the terrorists will
provide clues based on these searches.
• Based on the clues they have received, the
security team will develop a plan to stop the
attack, and failing that, a plan to minimize the
effects of the attack.
• Each group of four will make a 5-minute
presentation describing their experience.