PERSISTENT CHEMICAL WARFARE UPTAKE SIMULANTS - DEVELOPMENT

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSED PROGRAM IS TO PROVIDE PERFLUORINATED CANDIDATE FLUID MATERIALS AS PERSISTANT CHEMICAL WARFARE UPTAKE SIMULANTS. BASED ON PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE WITH CHLOROPENTAFLUOROBENZENE (CPFB), WHICH IS A LEADING CANDIDATE FOR NON-PERSISTANT UPTAKE SIMULANTS, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT HIGHER MOLELCULAR WEIGHT DERIVATIVES OF CPFB SHOULD PROVIDE CANDIDATE FLUIDS WHILE STILL RETAINING THE REQUIRED PROPERTIES, E.G., GOOD DETECTABILITY BY ELECTRON CAPTURE DETECTION USING GAS CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS, BIOLOGICAL INERTNESS, AND AN ADJUSTABLE (BY MOLECULAR DESIGN) VAPOR PRESSURE. THESE MATERIALS SHOULD ALSO POSSESS PROPERTIES OF ENHANCING ABSORPTION BY INHALATION OR THROUGH THE SKIN SURFACE. TWO CLASSES OF COMPOUNDS ARE SUGGESTED. THE FIRST CLASS CONSISTES OF PROPERLY SUBSTITUTED CHLOROPENTAFLUOROBENZENE COMPOUNDS, RC(6)F(4)CL. THE SUBSTITUENT R MUST BE PROPERLY CHOSEN SO AS TO DECREASE THE VAPOR PRESSURE SUFFICIENTLY TO PROVIDE A BOILING POINT RANGE OF 200 DEG C TO 300 DEG C AND CONSIST OF THE FOLLOWING: CL (O AND M), BR (O AND M), C(6)F(5)O, CLC(6)F(4), C(N)F2(N)CL, C(N)F(2N+1), AND CF(2)=CFCL. THE SECOND CLASS OF COMPOUNDS WILL BE THE MONO OR POLYCHLOROFLUOROALKANES.