Bisethylamine is the organic compound

Organic compound

An organic compound is any member of a large class of gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of carbon-containing compounds such as carbides, carbonates, simple oxides of carbon, and cyanides, as well as the...

 with the formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound....

 C₂H₅

Ethyl group

In chemistry, an ethyl group is an alkyl substituent derived from ethane . It has the formula -C2H5 and is very often abbreviated -Et.Ethylation is the formation of a compound by introduction of the ethyl functional group, C2H5....

N(CH₂CH₂Cl)₂. Often abbreviated HN1, it is a powerful vesicant and a nitrogen mustard

Nitrogen mustard

The nitrogen mustards are cytotoxic chemotherapy agents similar to mustard gas. Although their common use is medicinal, in principle these compounds can also be deployed as chemical warfare agents. Nitrogen mustards are nonspecific DNA alkylating agents. Nitrogen mustard gas was stockpiled by...

 gas used for chemical warfare

Chemical warfare

Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...

. HN1 was developed in the 1920s and 1930s to remove warts and later as a military agent. Because of the latter use, it is a Schedule 1 chemical within 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 weapons. Its full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction...

 and therefore use and production is strongly restricted.

It is an oily liquid with a colorless to pale yellow appearance and a faint fishy or musty odor.

Mode of action

Nitrogen mustards react via an initial cyclization to the corresponding aziridinium salt. The rate of this reaction is pH dependent because the protonated amine cannot cyclize. The aziridinium ion reacts with water in a slower reaction. At pH 8, the nitrogen mustards are essentially quantitatively converted to the aziridinium ion for subsequent slow reaction with water. In contrast, at pH 4 cyclization and hydrolysis show the classic form of reactions in series.

See also

• nitrogen mustard
  Nitrogen mustard
  The nitrogen mustards are cytotoxic chemotherapy agents similar to mustard gas. Although their common use is medicinal, in principle these compounds can also be deployed as chemical warfare agents. Nitrogen mustards are nonspecific DNA alkylating agents. Nitrogen mustard gas was stockpiled by...
  
  
• HN2 (mustine)
• HN3
  Tris(2-chloroethyl)amine
  Trisamine is the organic compound with the formula N3. Often abbreviated HN3, it is a powerful blister agent and a nitrogen mustard gas used for chemical warfare. HN3 was the last of the nitrogen mustard agents developed...