Mutagenicity of aryl propylene and butylene oxides with salmonella.

10 aryl propylene oxides and 6 aryl butylene oxides were synthesized. Dose-mutagenicity relationships were studied for these compounds and for 1,2-epoxybutane, using both the preincubation and plate incorporation Ames tests with Salmonella typhimurium strains TA100 and TA1535. Structure-mutagenicity relationships were further examined by concurrent testing at single doses with the plate incorporation assay in strain TA100. In both series of compounds, mutagenicity showed very correlation to chemical reactivity, molar volume and partition values. However, all compounds were mutagenic in at least one system with the propylene oxides being more mutagenic than the corresponding butylene oxide derivatives. The naphthyl derivatives in each series were the most mutagenic.