Studies on chemical carcinogens. XXIII. A simple method for characterization of the alkylating ability of compounds by using 4-(p-nitrobenzyl)pyridine.

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Abstract
A simple method was presented for the characterization of alkylating agents by measuring the reaction selectivity toward 4-(p-nitrobenzyl)pyridine (NBP) in acetone containing phosphate buffer, evaluated in terms of the selectivity constant, SNBP, which is defined as log {[H2O]/[NBP] .times. N%/(100-N%)}, where N% is the percentage molar fraction of NBP alkylation. SNBP values were determined for .apprx. 40 kinds of halides, methanesulfonates, tosylates, sulfates, phosphates, nitrosoureas and nitrosoguanidines. SNBP can replace the substrate constant, s, of the Swain-Scott equation, and the SNBP of some of the agents examined here were linearly correlated with the s values. [The alkylating ability of synthetic and environmental carcinogens and mutagens are thought to be initiated by alkylations of cellular DNA.].