The metabolism of a series of methylalkylnitrosamines.

The microsomal metabolism of eight methyl alkyl nitrosamines (nitrosotrifluoroethylamine, nitrosomethylpropylamine, nitrosomethylpentylamine, nitrosomethylneopentylamine, nitrosomethylhexylamine, nitrosomethylheptylamine, nitrosomethylcyclohexylamine and nitrosomethylbenzylamine) was studied. All the nitrosamines produced formaldehyde during metabolism but only nitrosotrifluoroethylamine failed to produce the expected second carbonyl product. All the nitrosamines with the exception of nitrosomethylpropylamine exhibited simple Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The latter compound showed two distinct kinetic curves. The chain length of the second alkyl moiety appeared to have a profound influence on the metabolism of the methyl group to formaldehyde.