[a confused chiral girl]

I researched a bit on phosgene after reading about it briefly in the textbook. It says that it is a toxic gas and can be used as a chemical weapon because it increases the acidity of the lungs after inhalation.

I don't understand why this is so....phosgene is Cl2C=O. There are no diagrams in the textbook explaning this...and I tried to draw some reactions of Cl2C=O, but I am quite lost. Please help if you have some ideas 

thanks~ 

[kiwi]

what happens when you mix an acid chloride with an oxygen nucleophile like water or an alcohol? you get two products, an organic one and an inorganic one. can you see whats going on?

[Dolphinsiu]

Cl2C=O + H2O --> 2HCl + CO2
Cl2C=O + 2ROH --> ??

[a confused chiral girl]

what happens when you mix an acid chloride with an oxygen nucleophile like water or an alcohol? you get two products, an organic one and an inorganic one. can you see whats going on?

..you mean the inorganic one is acidic?..

[kiwi]

very:

2H2O + COCl2 -> H2CO3 + 2HCl

both HCl (pKa -4) and carbonic acid (pKa 6.4) are acidic, but it will be HCl causing the damage.

[HP]

Safety data phosgene:

 "Phosgene is an insidious poison as the odor may not be noticed and symptoms may be slow to appear.[7] Like many reactive chlorides, phosgene combines with water in the tissues of the respiratory tract to form hydrochloric acid. Phosgene is stable when stored in dry steel containers.[3]. Phosgene is a member of a class of organic chemicals known as alkylating agents.[citation needed] These agents can react with both DNA and with enzymes (polymerases) that are responsible for replication of DNA in cells".

[a confused chiral girl]

thanks for all the input! 

since it's know that substituents of high electronegativity (especially –OH, -Cl and –NH3+) near the carboxyl group increase the acidity of carboxylic acids, is that any diagram that can be used to show this fact of increasing lung's acidity because of carboxylic acids?