16 Facts About Phosgene

1.

Phosgene is the organic chemical compound with the formula COCl2.

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2.

Phosgene is a valued and important industrial building block, especially for the production of precursors of polyurethanes and polycarbonate plastics.

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3.

Phosgene is extremely poisonous and was used as a chemical weapon during World War I, where it was responsible for 85,000 deaths.

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4.

Phosgene is a planar molecule as predicted by VSEPR theory.

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5.

Phosgene is a carbon oxohalide and it can be considered one of the simplest acyl chlorides, being formally derived from carbonic acid.

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World War I
6.

Phosgene is fairly simple to produce, but is listed as a Schedule 3 substances under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

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7.

Phosgene is formed as a metabolite of chloroform, likely via the action of cytochrome P-450.

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8.

Phosgene was synthesized by the Cornish chemist John Davy in 1812 by exposing a mixture of carbon monoxide and chlorine to sunlight.

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9.

Phosgene named it "phosgene" from Greek f?? and ?e??a? in reference of the use of light to promote the reaction.

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10.

Phosgene is used in industry for the production of aromatic di-isocyanates like toluene diisocyanate and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, which are precursors for production of polyurethanes.

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11.

Phosgene is used in the production of aliphatic diisocyanates such as hexamethylene diisocyanate and isophorone diisocyanate, which are precursors for the production of advanced coatings.

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12.

Phosgene is used to produce chloroformates such as benzyl chloroformate:.

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13.

Phosgene reacts with water to release hydrogen chloride and carbon dioxide:.

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14.

Phosgene was first deployed as a chemical weapon by the French in 1915 in World War I It was used in a mixture with an equal volume of chlorine, with the chlorine helping to spread the denser phosgene.

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15.

Phosgene was more potent than chlorine, though some symptoms took 24 hours or more to manifest.

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16.

Phosgene was then only infrequently used by the Imperial Japanese Army against the Chinese during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

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