Destruction of chemical warfare agents VX and soman by α-nucleophiles as oxidizing agents

Reactions of O-ethyl S-(2-diisopropyl-amino)ethyl methylphosphonothiolate, VX 1, were investigated with five oxidizing agents. In all the cases, the formation of the VX N-oxide 7 was observed prior to the subsequent oxidation and hydrolysis into the nontoxic O-ethyl methylphosphonate 2. Magnesium monoperoxyphthalate (MMPP) is probably one of the most active reagents to achieve the complete detoxification of VX 1. The decontamination using MMPP was also extended with success to soman 13, a G-type agent. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 12:485–490, 2001