PNNL

Abstract

Chemical forensics is an emerging field in homeland security that aims to attribute a weaponized toxic chemical or related material to its source. Herein, for the first time, trace impurities originating from a chemical precursor were used to match a synthesized nerve agent to its precursor source. Specifically, multiple batches of sarin and its intermediate were synthesized from two commercial stocks of methylphosphonic dichloride (DC) and were then matched by impurity profiling to their DC stocks from out of five possible stocks. This was possible because each DC stock had a unique impurity profile that, for the tested stocks, persisted through synthesis, decontamination, and sample preparation. This work may form a basis for using impurity profiling to help find and prosecute perpetrators of chemical attacks.