Metabolism and toxicity of diisopropylnaphthalene as compared to naphthalene and monoalkyl naphthalenes: a minireview.

Detailed knowledge does exist on the toxicological safety of diisopropylnaphthalene (DIPN). Its metabolism is the key to understanding its very low toxicity. The metabolic pathway of 2,6-DIPN in rats was found to proceed almost exclusively through oxidation of the isopropyl side-chain. This has decisive toxicological implications, which could be demonstrated by comparing the lung-specific toxic effects of naphthalenes in mouse: the lack of ring oxidation correlates well with lack of lung toxicity while, vice versa, the extent of enzymatic oxidative attack at the aromatic ring structure results in a toxic pattern that is observed with naphthalene and its monomethyl derivatives. It is concluded that DIPN and other highly alkylated naphthalenes are supposed to offer favourable safety properties because of their 'alkyl character' and therefore must not be compared with the toxic properties of naphthalene and closely related aromatic compounds.