Mutagenesis of nitro-dibenzo-p-dioxins

Two dioxins, 2-nitro-dibenzo-p-dioxin (I) and 2,3 dichloro-7-nitro-dibenzo-p-dioxin (II), were prepared by condensing 3,4 dichloro nitrobenzene with the dipotassium salts of catechol and 4,5-dichloro-catechol, respectively. Both compounds were very mutagenic for Salmonella typhimurium TA1538, but only weakly mutagenic for TA1537. Compound II, but not compound I, also induced a few (approximately 100 revertants at near toxic doses) point mutations in strain TA1535.