Editing Mustard gas (section)

===Development===
Mustard gases were possibly developed as early as 1822 by [[César-Mansuète Despretz]] (1798–1863).<ref name="mustardgas">[http://itech.dickinson.edu/chemistry/?p=408 By Any Other Name: Origins of Mustard Gas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201220058/http://itech.dickinson.edu/chemistry/?p=408 |date=2014-02-01 }}. Itech.dickinson.edu (2008-04-25). Retrieved on 2011-05-29.</ref> Despretz described the reaction of [[sulfur dichloride]] and [[ethylene]] but never made mention of any irritating properties of the reaction product. In 1854, another French chemist, Alfred Riche (1829–1908), repeated this procedure, also without describing any adverse physiological properties. In 1860, the British scientist [[Frederick Guthrie (scientist)|Frederick Guthrie]] synthesized and characterized the mustard agent compound and noted its irritating properties, especially in tasting.<ref name="Guthrie">{{cite journal |author=F. Guthrie |title=XIII.—On some derivatives from the olefines |journal=Q. J. Chem. Soc. |volume=12 |pages=109–126 |year=1860 |doi=10.1039/QJ8601200109 |issue=1 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1885270 }}</ref> Also in 1860, chemist [[Albert Niemann (chemist)|Albert Niemann]], known as a pioneer in [[cocaine]] chemistry, repeated the reaction, and recorded blister-forming properties. In 1886, [[Viktor Meyer]] published a paper describing a synthesis that produced good yields. He combined [[2-Chloroethanol|2-chloroethanol]] with [[aqueous]] [[potassium sulfide]], and then treated the resulting [[thiodiglycol]] with [[phosphorus trichloride]]. The purity of this compound was much higher and consequently the adverse health effects upon exposure were much more severe. These symptoms presented themselves in his assistant, and in order to rule out the possibility that his assistant was suffering from a mental illness (psychosomatic symptoms), Meyer had this compound tested on laboratory [[rabbit]]s, most of which died. In 1913, the English chemist [[Hans Thacher Clarke]] (known for the [[Eschweiler-Clarke reaction]]) replaced the phosphorus trichloride with [[hydrochloric acid]] in Meyer's formulation while working with [[Hermann Emil Fischer|Emil Fischer]] in [[Berlin]]. Clarke was hospitalized for two months for burns after one of his flasks broke. According to Meyer, Fischer's report on this accident to the [[German Chemical Society]] sent the [[German Empire]] on the road to chemical weapons.<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Duchovic, Ronald J. |author2=Vilensky, Joel A. |title=Mustard Gas: Its Pre-World War I History |journal=J. Chem. Educ. |volume=84 |page=944 |year=2007 |doi=10.1021/ed084p944|bibcode=2007JChEd..84..944D |issue=6}}</ref>

The [[German Empire]] during [[World War I]] relied on the Meyer-Clarke method because [[2-chloroethanol]] was readily available from the German dye industry of that time.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Duchovic |first=Ronald J. |last2=Vilensky |first2=Joel A. |date=2007 |title=Mustard Gas: Its Pre-World War I History |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed084p944 |journal=Journal of Chemical Education |language=en |volume=84 |issue=6 |pages=944 |doi=10.1021/ed084p944 |issn=0021-9584}}</ref>