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Soman, also known by its NATO
NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization , also called the Atlantic Alliance, is a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949....
 designation GD (O-Pinacolyl methylphosphonofluoridate), is an extremely toxic chemical substance. It is a nerve agent
Nerve agent

Nerve agents, also referred to as nerve gases though these chemicals are liquid at room temperature, are a class of phosphorus-containing organic chemistry that disrupt the mechanism by which nerves transfer messages to organs....
, interfering with normal functioning of the mammalian nervous system
Nervous system

The nervous system is a Neural network of specialized cells that communicate information about an animal's surroundings and itself. It processes this information and causes reactions in other parts of the body....
 by inhibiting the cholinesterase enzyme
Cholinesterase enzyme

In biochemistry, cholinesterase is an enzyme that catalyst the hydrolysis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine into choline and acetic acid, a reaction necessary to allow a cholinergic neuron to return to its resting state after activation....
. As a chemical weapon, it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 according to UN Resolution 687. Its production is strictly controlled, and stockpiling is outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention
Chemical Weapons Convention

The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical warfares. Its full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction....
 of 1993.






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Soman, also known by its NATO
NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization , also called the Atlantic Alliance, is a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949....
 designation GD (O-Pinacolyl methylphosphonofluoridate), is an extremely toxic chemical substance. It is a nerve agent
Nerve agent

Nerve agents, also referred to as nerve gases though these chemicals are liquid at room temperature, are a class of phosphorus-containing organic chemistry that disrupt the mechanism by which nerves transfer messages to organs....
, interfering with normal functioning of the mammalian nervous system
Nervous system

The nervous system is a Neural network of specialized cells that communicate information about an animal's surroundings and itself. It processes this information and causes reactions in other parts of the body....
 by inhibiting the cholinesterase enzyme
Cholinesterase enzyme

In biochemistry, cholinesterase is an enzyme that catalyst the hydrolysis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine into choline and acetic acid, a reaction necessary to allow a cholinergic neuron to return to its resting state after activation....
. As a chemical weapon, it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 according to UN Resolution 687. Its production is strictly controlled, and stockpiling is outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention
Chemical Weapons Convention

The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical warfares. Its full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction....
 of 1993. Soman was the third of the so-called G-series nerve agents to be discovered along with GA
Tabun (nerve agent)

Tabun or GA is an extremely toxic chemical substance. It is a clear, colorless, and tasteless liquid with a faint fruity odor. It is classified as a nerve agent because it fatally interferes with normal functioning of the mammalian nervous system....
 (tabun), GB
Sarin

Sarin, also known by its NATO designation of GB, is an extremely toxic substance whose sole application is as a nerve agent. As a chemical weapons, it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations in UN Resolution 687....
 (sarin), and GF
Cyclosarin

Cyclosarin or GF is an extremely Toxicity substance used as a chemical weapon. It is a member of the G-series family of nerve agents, a group of chemical warfare discovered and synthesized by a Germany team led by Gerhard Schrader....
 (cyclosarin).

It is a volatile, corrosive, and colorless liquid with a faint odor when pure. More commonly, it is a yellow to brown color and has a strong odor described as similar to camphor
Camphor

Camphor is a waxy, white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula carbon10hydrogen16oxygen....
. The LCt50
LD50

In toxicology, the median lethal dose, LD50 , or LCt50 of a toxic substance or radiation is the Dose required to kill half the members of a tested population....
 for soman is 70 mg·min/m3 in humans. It is both more lethal and more persistent than sarin
Sarin

Sarin, also known by its NATO designation of GB, is an extremely toxic substance whose sole application is as a nerve agent. As a chemical weapons, it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations in UN Resolution 687....
 or tabun
Tabun (nerve agent)

Tabun or GA is an extremely toxic chemical substance. It is a clear, colorless, and tasteless liquid with a faint fruity odor. It is classified as a nerve agent because it fatally interferes with normal functioning of the mammalian nervous system....
, but less so than cyclosarin
Cyclosarin

Cyclosarin or GF is an extremely Toxicity substance used as a chemical weapon. It is a member of the G-series family of nerve agents, a group of chemical warfare discovered and synthesized by a Germany team led by Gerhard Schrader....
.

GD can be thickened
Thickening

In cooking, thickening is the process of increasing the viscosity of a liquid either by reduction , or by the addition of a thickening agent, typically containing starch....
 for use as a chemical spray using an acryloid copolymer. It can also be deployed as a binary chemical weapon
Binary chemical weapon

Binary chemical weapons or munitions are chemical weapons wherein the toxic agent is not contained within the weapon in its active state, but in the form of two chemical wiktionary:Precursors, physically separated within the weapon....
; its precursor chemicals are methylphosphonyl difluoride
Methylphosphonyl difluoride

Methylphosphonyl difluoride , also called methyl difluorophosphite, methylphosphonic difluoride, and difluoromethylphosphine oxide, is a chemical weapon wiktionary:Precursor....
 and a mixture of pinacolyl alcohol
Pinacolyl alcohol

Pinacolyl alcohol is a common name for 3,3-dimethylbutan-2-ol, also known as pine alcohol. Pinacolyl alcohol's molecular formula is C6H14O and is a secondary alcohol....
 and an amine
Amine

Amines are organic compounds and functional groups that contain a base nitrogen atom with a lone pair. Amines are derivative s of ammonia, wherein one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by organic substituents such as alkyl and aryl groups....
.

History

Soman was discovered by Richard Kuhn
Richard Kuhn

Richard Kuhn was an Austrian-Germany Biochemistry and Nobel laureate....
 in Germany in 1944, and represented the last wartime nerve agent discovery (GF
Cyclosarin

Cyclosarin or GF is an extremely Toxicity substance used as a chemical weapon. It is a member of the G-series family of nerve agents, a group of chemical warfare discovered and synthesized by a Germany team led by Gerhard Schrader....
 was not found until 1949). Soman was given the identifier GD post-war (GC was already in medical use) when the information relating to soman was recovered by the Soviet Union from its hiding place in a mine. The 3D crystal structure of soman complexed with acetylcholinesterase was determined by Millard et al (1999) and can be seen at .