Editing Nerve agent (section)

=== Discovery ===

This first class of nerve agents, the G-series, was accidentally discovered in Germany on December 23, 1936, by a research team headed by [[Gerhard Schrader]] working for [[IG Farben]]. Since 1934, Schrader had been working in a laboratory in [[Leverkusen]] to develop new types of [[insecticide]]s for [[IG Farben]]. While working toward his goal of improved insecticide, Schrader experimented with numerous compounds, eventually leading to the preparation of [[Tabun (nerve agent)|Tabun]].

In experiments, Tabun was extremely potent against insects: as little as 5 [[Parts per million|ppm]] of Tabun killed all the [[aphids|leaf lice]] he used in his initial experiment. In January 1937, Schrader observed the effects of nerve agents on human beings first-hand when a drop of Tabun spilled onto a lab bench. Within minutes he and his laboratory assistant began to experience [[miosis]] (constriction of the pupils of the eyes), dizziness and severe shortness of breath. It took them three weeks to recover fully.

In 1935 the [[Nazism|Nazi]] government had passed a decree that required all inventions of possible military significance to be reported to the [[Ministry of the Reichswehr|Ministry of War]], so in May 1937 Schrader sent a sample of Tabun to the [[chemical warfare]] (CW) section of the [[Waffenamt|Army Weapons Office]] in [[Berlin-Spandau]]. Schrader was summoned to the Wehrmacht chemical lab in Berlin to give a demonstration, after which Schrader's [[patent]] application and all related research was classified as secret. Colonel Rüdiger, head of the CW section, ordered the construction of new laboratories for the further investigation of Tabun and other organophosphate compounds and Schrader soon moved to a new laboratory at [[Wuppertal]]-[[Elberfeld]] in the [[Ruhr valley]] to continue his research in secret throughout [[World War II]]. The compound was initially codenamed Le-100 and later Trilon-83.

[[Sarin]] was discovered by Schrader and his team in 1938 and named in honor of its discoverers: [[Gerhard Schrader|Gerhard '''S'''chrader]], [[Otto Ambros|Otto '''A'''mbros]], {{ill|Gerhard Ritter (chemist)|lt=Gerhard '''R'''itter|de|Gerhard Ritter (Chemiker)|display=yes}}, and Hans-Jürgen von der L'''in'''de.<ref name="Evans2008">
{{cite book
 | first= Richard J.
 | last= Evans
 | title= The Third Reich at War, 1939–1945
 | year= 2008
 | publisher= Penguin
 | isbn= 978-1-59420-206-3
 | page= [https://archive.org/details/thirdreichatwar00evan_0/page/669 669]
 | url= https://archive.org/details/thirdreichatwar00evan_0
 | url-access= registration
 | access-date= January 13, 2013
}}
</ref> It was codenamed T-144 or Trilon-46. It was found to be more than ten times as potent as Tabun.

[[Soman]] was discovered by [[Richard Kuhn]] in 1944 as he worked with the existing compounds; the name is derived from either the [[Greek language|Greek]] 'to sleep' or the [[Latin]] 'to bludgeon'. It was codenamed T-300.

[[Cyclosarin]] was also discovered during WWII but the details were lost and it was rediscovered in 1949.

The G-series naming system was created by the United States when it uncovered the German activities, labeling Tabun as GA (German Agent A), Sarin as GB and Soman as GD. Ethyl Sarin was tagged GE and Cyclosarin as GF.