Formation of a mutagenic diazoquinone by interaction of phenol with nitrite

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Reaction of phenol with nitrite under mildly acidic conditions produced p-nitrosophenol, p-diazoquinone and o-diazoquinone. p-Diazoquinone showed mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100 without metabolic activation; the number of his + revertant colonies in strain TA98 was 85 with a dose of 20 nmol (after deduction of the background (control) number of about 20). Higher doses of the compound were bactericidal. While the reaction of phenol with an equivalent amount of nitrite at pH 3 produced p-nitrosophenol in high yield, reaction with excess nitrite produced a high yield of p-diazoquinone. p-Nitrosophenol was converted to p-diazoquinone by reaction with nitrite. Formation of o-diazoquinone also increased with increasing amounts of nitrite. The formation of these compounds was not greatly affected by the presence of dimethylamine. Nitrosation of dimethylamine with nitrite was stimulated by phenol because of the formation of p-nitrosophenol and its stimulatory effect. Thus, the reaction of phenol with nitrite can produce mutagenic p-diazoquinone, and can also stimulate nitrosation of secondary amines by production of p-nitrosophenol.