Novichok (Russian for "Newcomer") agents are nerve agents (chemical weapons) developed by the former Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s that are possibly the most deadly nerve agents ever made. Some Novichok agents are believed to be five to eight times more potent than VX nerve gas.
Novichok Agents
By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D., About.com Guide
This is the generalized structure of a Novichok agent. Novichok agents are organophosphorus compounds with an attached dihaloformaldoxime group, where R = alkyl, alkoxy, alkylamino, or fluorine and X = halogen (F, Cl, Br) or a pseudohalogen.
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