Methylnitronitrosoguanidine
Chemical compound
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Methylnitronitrosoguanidine (MNNG[2] or MNG, NTG when referred to colloquially as nitrosoguanidine[3]) is a biochemical tool used experimentally as a carcinogen and mutagen.[1] It acts by adding alkyl groups to the O6 of guanine and O4 of thymine, which can lead to transition mutations between GC and AT. These changes do not cause a heavy distortion in the double helix of DNA and thus are hard to detect by the DNA mismatch repair system.
| Names | |
|---|---|
| Preferred IUPAC name
N-Methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine | |
| Other names
1-Methyl-3-nitro-1-nitrosoguanidine N-Methyl-N-nitroso-N′-nitroguanidine | |
| Identifiers | |
3D model (JSmol) |
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| Abbreviations | MNNG |
| ChemSpider | |
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.000.664 |
| KEGG | |
PubChem CID |
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| UNII | |
CompTox Dashboard (EPA) |
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| Properties | |
| C2H5N5O3 | |
| Molar mass | 147.09 g/mol |
| Appearance | Yellow crystals |
| Melting point | 118 °C (244 °F; 391 K) (decomposes) |
| reacts violently, slowly hydrolysed | |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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In organic chemistry, MNNG is used as a source of diazomethane when reacted with aqueous potassium hydroxide.[4]
MNNG is a probable human carcinogen listed as an IARC Group 2A carcinogen.[5]
Stability
MNNG produces diazomethane, a known methylating agent of DNA and other substrates, in basic aqueous solutions, and nitrous acid, a mutagen, in acidic solutions.[6]

