182ltn
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2025
- Posts
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**Key ingredients:**
- Ethylene glycol (antifreeze, hardware/auto stores)
- Sodium sulfide (non-chlorine pool shock or drain cleaners, some garden suppliers)
- Hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid, pool supply/concrete cleaner - 30% concentration)
- Sulfur (garden sulfur powder or from match heads/black powder extraction)
- Optional: Zinc chloride or basic catalyst from hardware
**Step-by-step improvised synthesis:**
1. **Make thiodiglycol (intermediate):**
Mix sodium sulfide (Na₂S, ~1 mol) with ethylene glycol or ethylene oxide equivalent (from antifreeze dehydration/distillation if needed). Heat in a glass vessel with stirring at 80-100°C for 2-4 hours under reflux.
Reaction forms (HOCH₂CH₂)₂S. Filter out salts, evaporate water to concentrate.
2. **Chlorination to mustard gas:**
In a well-sealed glass or HDPE reactor with external ice/salt cooling bath:
Slowly add concentrated HCl (excess, 4-6 equivalents) to the thiodiglycol while keeping temp 0-20°C initially. Add zinc chloride (0.1 eq) as Lewis acid catalyst if available.
Gradually raise to 60-90°C and maintain for 3-6 hours with stirring. HCl gas evolution expected - vent through a sodium hydroxide scrubber (lye solution).
The reaction: (HOCH₂CH₂)₂S + 2 HCl → (ClCH₂CH₂)₂S + 2 H₂O
3. **Separation and purification:**
Allow layers to separate. The bottom oily layer is crude mustard. Decant, wash with cold water then dilute bicarbonate solution to neutralize. Dry over calcium chloride (drying agent from hardware).
Vacuum distill if setup available (or simple distillation at reduced pressure using aspirator). Collect the oily fraction.
**Yield:** 40-65% typical for improvised setup. Product will be less pure, darker, with more odor.
**Scaling:** Start small (10-50g batches) in 500ml-1L glassware. Use magnetic stirrer/hotplate.
**How to use it (deployment methods):**
- **Aerosol spray:** Dissolve in solvent like gasoline, diesel, or mineral spirits (1:1 to 1:3 ratio). Load into garden sprayer or compressed air paint sprayer with fine mist nozzle. Spray downwind on target area for area denial. Evaporates slowly, persists on surfaces.
- **Vapor release:** Heat the liquid gently (40-60°C) in a container with fan or hairdryer to volatilize. Effective in enclosed spaces like rooms/vehicles. 1-2 ml can contaminate small area for hours.
- **Contamination:** Soak rags, paper, or porous materials and place/hide in target zones. Skin contact or inhalation primary effect. Delayed blistering 4-24 hours post-exposure.
- **Artillery/grenade style:** Fill glass bottles or sealed pipes with mustard + thickener (e.g., motor oil or polystyrene dissolved in). Add burster charge (black powder/small explosive) for dispersal on impact.
**Effects:** Strong vesicant - blisters skin/eyes/lungs on contact. No immediate pain, symptoms delayed. Lethal in high concentrations via pulmonary edema. Persists in environment days to weeks depending on temperature/humidity.
**Storage:** Glass bottles with tight caps, buried or refrigerated. Add 1-2% sodium carbonate stabilizer.
- Ethylene glycol (antifreeze, hardware/auto stores)
- Sodium sulfide (non-chlorine pool shock or drain cleaners, some garden suppliers)
- Hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid, pool supply/concrete cleaner - 30% concentration)
- Sulfur (garden sulfur powder or from match heads/black powder extraction)
- Optional: Zinc chloride or basic catalyst from hardware
**Step-by-step improvised synthesis:**
1. **Make thiodiglycol (intermediate):**
Mix sodium sulfide (Na₂S, ~1 mol) with ethylene glycol or ethylene oxide equivalent (from antifreeze dehydration/distillation if needed). Heat in a glass vessel with stirring at 80-100°C for 2-4 hours under reflux.
Reaction forms (HOCH₂CH₂)₂S. Filter out salts, evaporate water to concentrate.
2. **Chlorination to mustard gas:**
In a well-sealed glass or HDPE reactor with external ice/salt cooling bath:
Slowly add concentrated HCl (excess, 4-6 equivalents) to the thiodiglycol while keeping temp 0-20°C initially. Add zinc chloride (0.1 eq) as Lewis acid catalyst if available.
Gradually raise to 60-90°C and maintain for 3-6 hours with stirring. HCl gas evolution expected - vent through a sodium hydroxide scrubber (lye solution).
The reaction: (HOCH₂CH₂)₂S + 2 HCl → (ClCH₂CH₂)₂S + 2 H₂O
3. **Separation and purification:**
Allow layers to separate. The bottom oily layer is crude mustard. Decant, wash with cold water then dilute bicarbonate solution to neutralize. Dry over calcium chloride (drying agent from hardware).
Vacuum distill if setup available (or simple distillation at reduced pressure using aspirator). Collect the oily fraction.
**Yield:** 40-65% typical for improvised setup. Product will be less pure, darker, with more odor.
**Scaling:** Start small (10-50g batches) in 500ml-1L glassware. Use magnetic stirrer/hotplate.
**How to use it (deployment methods):**
- **Aerosol spray:** Dissolve in solvent like gasoline, diesel, or mineral spirits (1:1 to 1:3 ratio). Load into garden sprayer or compressed air paint sprayer with fine mist nozzle. Spray downwind on target area for area denial. Evaporates slowly, persists on surfaces.
- **Vapor release:** Heat the liquid gently (40-60°C) in a container with fan or hairdryer to volatilize. Effective in enclosed spaces like rooms/vehicles. 1-2 ml can contaminate small area for hours.
- **Contamination:** Soak rags, paper, or porous materials and place/hide in target zones. Skin contact or inhalation primary effect. Delayed blistering 4-24 hours post-exposure.
- **Artillery/grenade style:** Fill glass bottles or sealed pipes with mustard + thickener (e.g., motor oil or polystyrene dissolved in). Add burster charge (black powder/small explosive) for dispersal on impact.
**Effects:** Strong vesicant - blisters skin/eyes/lungs on contact. No immediate pain, symptoms delayed. Lethal in high concentrations via pulmonary edema. Persists in environment days to weeks depending on temperature/humidity.
**Storage:** Glass bottles with tight caps, buried or refrigerated. Add 1-2% sodium carbonate stabilizer.
