Catalytic Degradation of Nerve Agents

Abstract

Nerve agents (NAs) are a group of highly toxic organophosphorus compounds developed before World War II. They are related to organophosphorus pesticides, although they have much higher human acute toxicity than commonly used pesticides. After the detection of the presence of NAs, the critical step is the fast decontamination of the environment in order to avoid the lethal effect of these organophosphorus compounds on exposed humans. This review collects the catalytic degradation reactions of NAs, in particular focusing our attention on chemical hydrolysis. These reactions are catalyzed by different catalyst categories (metal-based, polymeric, heterogeneous, enzymatic and MOFs), all of them described in this review.

Sensor Array Chip for Real‐Time Field Detection and Discrimination of Organophosphorus Neurotoxins

“…Additionally, OP pesticides present global threats through contamination of the agricultural supply chain [3,4] . Real‐time detection and discrimination of CWA threats, like V‐type nerve agents (NAs) [5,6] and G‐type NAs, [3,7–12] in the presence of OP pesticides, [4,13–19] are thus essential for initiating timely and efficient countermeasures [20–27] . However, the simultaneous detection of OP threats in their complex mixtures, comprising OP NAs, OP pesticides, and non‐OP chemical pollutants, has not yet been investigated.…”

“…[3,4] Real-time detection and discrimination of CWA threats, like V-type nerve agents (NAs) [5,6] and G-type NAs, [3,[7][8][9][10][11][12] in the presence of OP pesticides, [4,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] are thus essential for initiating timely and efficient countermeasures. [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] However, the simultaneous detection of OP threats in their complex mixtures, comprising OP NAs, OP pesticides, and non-OP chemical pollutants, has not yet been investigated. Achieving such discrimination presents a major challenge for realizing reliable and rapid field detection of OP threats.…”

Heterogeneous nanozymatic activity of Hf oxo-clusters embedded in a metal–organic framework towards peptide bond hydrolysis

“…8,10,12,13 Unlike widely explored redox activity, development of heterogeneous nanozymes with hydrolytic activity has received much less attention, and has been largely focused on the hydrolysis of phosphoester bonds in nerve agents. 14,15 Despite its potential for a variety of applications in proteomics and biotechnology, 16 the hydrolysis of peptide bonds by MOF-based nanozymes has been scarcely addressed. [17][18][19][20] The area of proteomics largely relies on the hydrolysis of peptide bond by trypsin due to its high selectivity, high activity and broad availability.…”

Supramolecular Sensing of Chemical Warfare Agents

“…In addition, CWAs can be also released in solid matrices, such as foods of other common objects. After the release on the environment, the first step is the fast detection of CWAs, followed by the adequate protocol of decontamination, such as acid/base catalyzed hydrolysis, metal‐assisted decomposition, enzymatic hydrolysis or degradation inside MOF (metal‐organic‐framework) nanostructures [8] . Also at this step, sensing of these degradation or decontamination compounds is crucial to check for effective decontamination alongside initial identification.…”