Novichoks is the latest known class of organophosphorus nerve agents to be developed. These highly lethal persistent agents, which exert their toxicity mainly through dermal exposure, pose new major challenges in mitigating their effect, mainly in respect to decontamination and medical countermeasures. Herein we report on the effective degradation of Novichok agents (A-230, A-232 and A-234) by hydroxamic acid salts. This class of α-nucleophiles, with emphasis on the FDA approved drug acetohydroxamic acid, were found to promote rapid hydrolysis of these extremely toxic agents. Using ³¹P NMR the Novichoks degradation rates were determined to be in time scale of minutes with the following order of reactivity A-230>A-232>A-234. The degradation efficiency was found to be dependent on the nucleophiles, their counter-cations and the specific solvent mixture used. Hence, these scavengers can serve as efficient and mild decontaminants in various scenarios including surfaces, dermal decontamination (as an alternative to active lotions such as the RSDL® kit) and also as a medical countermeasure in the form of “catch-up therapy”.

中文翻译：

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乙酰氧肟酸盐：对抗诺维乔克神经毒剂的温和、简单且有效的降解试剂

Novichoks 是最新已知的一类待开发的有机磷神经毒剂。这些高度致命的持久性制剂主要通过皮肤接触发挥毒性，对减轻其影响提出了新的重大挑战，主要是在净化和医疗对策方面。在此，我们报告了异羟肟酸盐有效降解 Novichok 剂（A-230、A-232 和 A-234）的情况。此类 α-亲核试剂，特别是 FDA 批准的药物乙酰异羟肟酸，被发现可促进这些剧毒试剂的快速水解。使用³¹ P NMR，确定 Novichoks 降解速率为分钟的时间尺度，反应性顺序如下：A-230>A-232>A-234。发现降解效率取决于亲核试剂、它们的抗衡阳离子和所使用的特定溶剂混合物。因此，这些清除剂可以在各种情况下作为高效、温和的去污剂，包括表面、皮肤去污（作为活性洗剂如 RSDL® 套件的替代品），也可以作为“追赶疗法”形式的医疗对策。