Please see: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16898970 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16898970 It is not the choke-point in that reaction either, whil

Please see: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16898970 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16898970 It is not the choke-point in that reaction either, while DF is. It also requires a trivial amount of easily produced or smuggled rubbing alcohol to make enough sarin to kill everyone in Syria. Isopropyl alone gets you nothing, and is easy to store and move around. Meanwhile... Methylphosphonyl difluoride is both reactive and corrosive. It is absorbed through skin and causes burns and mild nerve agent symptoms. It reacts with water producing HF fumes and methylphosphonic acid as a result. It is also capable of corroding glass. It has a boiling point of only 55.4 °C at normal atmospheric pressure, and thus a fairly high vapor pressure at room temperature. There’s a reason that Methylphosphonyl difluoride is class 1 controlled chemical weapons precursor, and you can buy rubbing alcohol anywhere.