Electric field studies, electrochromism, were used to obtain excited-state data for analogous divalent sulfur compounds. The sulfides investigated were dimethyl sulfide and small cyclic sulfides including the three to six member ring compounds. The excited-state dipole moments and polarizabilities are reported for the first s, p, and d Rydberg absorption bands which occur in the near vacuum ultraviolet region from 230 to 170 nm. The excited-state data are interpreted in terms of the particular excited-state (s, p, or d) for the molecules and the bending differences due to the presence of the ring and the number of atoms in the ring. The next section describes the use of electrochromism to investigate the pressure effect of argon, carbon tetrafluoride and sulfur hexafluoride on the spectra for molecular Rydberg states.

Nucleophiles react with the α-acetoxy derivative of α-hydroxybenzylbenzylnitrosamine at the carbonyl carbon of the acetoxy moiety followed by fragmentation to the very same intermediates formed by oxidative metabolism. Since α-acetoxybenzylbenzylnitrosamine has been shown to be able to acylate nucleophiles and since the nucleic acids are nucleophiles, then it is possible that this compound may cause mutations by an acylation pathway instead of or in addition to the more common alkylation pathway. The data in Part I of this dissertation should be considered in any further biological investigations of N,N-dialkylnitrosamine induced mutagenesis or carcinogenesis. The study of the synthesis, reactions, mutagenicity, and the possible correlation to compound liposolubility of cyclic N-nitrosamines was also investigated.