ISOLATION OF AN UNKNOWN COMPOUND, FROM BOTH BLOOD OF BHOPAL AEROSOL DISASTER VICTIMS AND RESIDUE OF TANK E-610 OF UNION-CARBIDE-INDIA-LIMITED - CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE STRUCTURE

A total of more than 28 chemical entities/reaction products in the for m of gases, vapour and particulate matter were reported from the tank E-610 of methyl isocyanate (MIC) storage tank of Union Carbide India L imited on the night of 2/3 December 1984 in Bhopal. In earlier studies , methyl isocyanate and its trimer, with a few other compounds, were r eported in the human victims preserved in deep freeze. Randomly select ed samples were analysed by gas chromatograph coupled with mass spectr ometer (ITD-800, Finnigan MAT, UK). Four of the cases showed the peaks and fragmentation pattern identified with one of the unidentified com pound of molecular weight 269 amu in the Tank Residue, which constitut ed about 0.2 area per cent on GC-ITD. After isolation by column chroma tography and being exposed to characterization, it was identified as a Spiro compound. It was possibly formed by the polymerization of five molecules of methyl isocyanate.