Where Does Lewisite Come from?
During Wwi, a U. S. Chemical Warfare Research Laboratory Investigating Arsenic Compounds as Potential War Gases Developed the Potent Vesicant, Subsequently...
During WWI, a U.S. chemical warfare research laboratory investigating arsenic compounds as potential war gases developed the potent vesicant, subsequently named "Lewisite" after the research group director. Purified Lewisite is a colorless, oily liquid at room temperature with a faint "geranium-like" odor.
Who created lewisite?
Philip Reiss, 79, with a photo of his grandfather, Winford Lee Lewis, the inventor of the chemical warfare agent lewisite.
How is lewisite formed?
The compound is prepared by the addition of arsenic trichloride to acetylene in the presence of a suitable catalyst: AsCl3 + C2H2 → ClCHCHAsCl2 (Lewisite) Lewisite, like other arsenous chlorides, hydrolyses in water to form hydrochloric acid and chlorovinylarsenous oxide (a less-powerful blister agent):
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