They subsequently developed a number of derivatives that were commercialised,[3][4] including those with the ISO common names[5] bensultap,[6] cartap,[7] thiocyclam[8] and thiosultap.

[10] Japanese fishermen used the annelid worm Lumbriconereis heteropoda as bait but after accidental human poisonings the chemical agent responsible was identified and named nereistoxin.

[11] In the 1960s, researchers at Takeda Chemical Industries synthesised the active material N,N-dimethyl-1,2-dithiolan-4-amine and derivatives in which the sulfur-sulfur bond of the 1,2-dithiolane ring was replaced by alternative sulfur-linked groups.

Later electrophysiological studies using synapses from the cockroach Periplaneta americana showed that it acts by blocking the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor / ion channel complex in the insect central nervous system.

The limited success of this group of chemicals was partly due to other compounds having similar modes of action but higher potency and mammalian safety becoming available.