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The long-term fate of the blister agent sulfur mustard (HD, bis(2-chloroethyl)sulfide) was determined in a variety of commercial and natural matrices. HD was found to be extremely stable in dry matrices for over a year. The addition of 5% water to the matrices induced slow degradation of HD, which lasted several months. The major degradation product in sands and asphalt was found to be a sulfonium salt, S[CH(2)CH(2)S(+)(CH(2)CH(2)OH)(2)](2) (H-2TG). Red loam soil, which has not been examined before, exhibited strong interaction with HD, both in dry form and in the presence of water. Humid red loam soil gave rise to unique oxidative degradation products. On humid concrete HD degraded to a complex mixture of products, including vinyls. This may be attributed to the basic sites incorporated in concrete.

The degradation of the warfare agent sulfur mustard (HD) adsorbed onto KF/Al(2)O(3) sorbents is described. These processes were explored by MAS NMR, using (13)C-labeled sulfur mustard (HD*) and LC-MS techniques. Our study on the detoxification of this blister agent showed the formation of nontoxic substitution and less-toxic elimination products (t(1/2) = 3.5-355 h). Interestingly, the reaction rates were found to be affected by MAS conditions, i.e., by a centrifugation effect. The products and the mechanisms of these processes are discussed.