LIPOPHILICITY OF SULFUR-CONTAINING TOXIN IS A FUNDAMENTAL CRITERION IN UNDERSTANDING CHEMICAL DECONTAMINATION BY ORGANIZED MEDIA

Chemical decontamination of toxic compounds (warfare agents and pestic ides) is of increasing importance. Oxidation of sulphur-containing mod el toxic agents in micellar media (in water or binary systems) was inv estigated through the relationship between the reactivity/selectivity and the lipophilicity (log P) of the model. Two substrates with lipoph ilicities close to that of mustard seem to be the best suited for mimi ng the degradation of the toxin. The micellar medium composed of cetyl pyridinium chloride and of the binary system water/formamide (1:1; vol /vol) gave the best results: quantitative yield with over 90 % of the product in the form of sulphoxide. (C) Academie des Sciences/Elsevier, Paris.