Electroactive Explosives: Nitrate Ester-Functionalized 1,2,4,5-Tetrazines

Halogenated PETN derivatives: interplay between physical and chemical factors in explosive sensitivity

Determining the factors that influence and can help predict energetic material sensitivity has long been a challenge in the explosives community. Decades of literature reports identify a multitude of factors both chemical and physical that influence explosive sensitivity; however no unifying theory has been observed. Recent work by our team has demonstrated that the kinetics of "trigger linkages" (i.e., the weakest bonds in the energetic material) showed strong correlations with experimental drop hammer impact sensitivity. These correlations suggest that the simple kinetics of the first bonds to break are good indicators for the reactivity observed in simple handling sensitivity tests. Herein we report the synthesis of derivatives of the explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) in which one, two or three of the nitrate ester functional groups are substituted with an inert group. Experimental and computational studies show that explosive sensitivity correlates well with Q (heat of explosion), due to the change in the number of trigger linkages removed from the starting material. In addition, this correlation appears more significant than other observed chemical or physical effects imparted on the material by different inert functional groups, such as heat of formation, heat of explosion, heat capacity, oxygen balance, and the crystal structure of the material.

Electroanalysis and Spectroelectrochemistry of Nonaromatic Explosives in Acetonitrile Containing Dissolved Oxygen

In search of a rapid, low-cost, and solution-phase detection technique for explosives, the (spectro-)electrochemistry of compounds from two major nonaromatic classes, namely nitramines (RDX and HMX) and nitrate esters (pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and the plastic explosive composite Semtex 1A) in acetonitrile (AN) is reported. In electrochemical screening, 5 μg of explosive material was detectable in 10 s by multicomponent cyclic voltammetric (CV) analysis on unmodified glassy carbon under ubiquitous environmental influences (i.e., trace water and dissolved oxygen). The explosives were identified with high recoveries under a battery of proof-of-concept testing scenarios in various matrices. In AN containing naturally dissolved oxygen (approx. 2 mM), the superoxide radical is co-electrogenerated during analyte reduction. Free superoxide yields prominent signals that the explosives attenuate quantitatively. To gain further insight into the electrochemical transformation mechanism, spectroelectrochemistry was employed to monitor changes in ultraviolet (UV) absorbance during CV and identify transient intermediates and product species, which could be targeted by future chemical sensors. Overlapping UV spectra of multiple species are deconvoluted using a new strategy, spectral regional baselining, for time- and potential-resolved spectroelectrochemical (SEC) analysis. This study shows that dissolved oxygen, hitherto an interferent purposefully removed from the solution, can be exploited advantageously in electrochemical sensing. The work expands our understanding of high-explosive solution-phase chemistry and offers a novel route to signal transduction for the sensing of energetic materials.

The effect of nitro groups on N2 extrusion from aromatic azide-based energetic materials

ortho nitroaromatic azides extrude N₂ through cyclization to a benzofuroxan derivative. DFT calculations show that steric and electronic factors influence the activation barriers for extrusion in energetic materials.

Exploration of High-Energy-Density Materials: Computational Insight into Energetic Derivatives Based on 1,2,4,5-Tetrahydro-1,2,4,5-tetrazine

Density functional theory was employed to investigate ten 1,2,4,5-tetrahydro-1,2,4,5-tetrazine-based energetic materials. The heats of formation and detonation properties were calculated by isodesmic reactions and Kamlet-Jacobs equations. The thermal stabilities and impact sensitivities were also estimated to give a better understanding of their decomposition mechanism. The results indicate that all of the designed compounds have high positive heats of formation ranging from 525.1 to 1639.1 kJ mol-1, moderate detonation properties (heats of detonation of 536.6 to 2187.6 cal g-1, theoretical densities of 1.48 to 2.32 g cm-3, detonation velocities of 7.02 to 12.18 km s-1, and detonation pressures of 19.8 to 75.1 GPa), and acceptable stabilities (bond dissociation energies of 0.8 to 104.9 kJ mol-1). Taking both the detonation properties and the stabilities into consideration, compounds A4 and B4 were finally selected as promising candidates of high-energy-density materials, as their detonation properties and impact sensitivities were superior to those of HMX. Additionally, the frontier molecular orbitals, electronic densities, electrostatic potentials, and thermal dynamic parameters of compounds A4 and B4 were also investigated.

Trigger bond analysis of nitroaromatic energetic materials using wiberg bond indices

The identification of trigger bonds, bonds that break to initiate explosive decomposition, using computational methods could help direct the development of novel, "green" and efficient high energy density materials (HEDMs). Comparing bond densities in energetic materials to reference molecules using Wiberg bond indices (WBIs) provides a relative scale for bond activation (%ΔWBIs) to assign trigger bonds in a set of 63 nitroaromatic conventional energetic molecules. Intramolecular hydrogen bonding interactions enhance contributions of resonance structures that strengthen, or deactivate, the CNO₂ trigger bonds and reduce the sensitivity of nitroaniline-based HEDMs. In contrast, unidirectional hydrogen bonding in nitrophenols strengthens the bond to the hydrogen bond acceptor, but the phenol lone pairs repel and activate an adjacent nitro group. Steric effects, electron withdrawing groups and greater nitro dihedral angles also activate the CNO₂ trigger bonds. %ΔWBIs indicate that nitro groups within an energetic molecule are not all necessarily equally activated to contribute to initiation. %ΔWBIs generally correlate well with impact sensitivity, especially for HEDMs with intramolecular hydrogen bonding, and are a better measure of trigger bond strength than bond dissociation energies (BDEs). However, the method is less effective for HEDMs with significant secondary effects in the solid state. Assignment of trigger bonds using %ΔWBIs could contribute to understanding the effect of intramolecular interactions on energetic properties. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ortho-Functionalized Aryltetrazines by Direct Palladium-Catalyzed C-H Halogenation: Application to Fast Electrophilic Fluorination Reactions

A general catalyzed direct C-H functionalization of s-tetrazines is reported. Under mild reaction conditions, N-directed ortho-C-H activation of tetrazines allows the introduction of various functional groups, thus forming carbon-heteroatom bonds: C-X (X=I, Br, Cl) and C-O. Based on this methodology, we developed electrophilic mono- and poly-ortho-fluorination of tetrazines. Microwave irradiation was optimized to afford fluorinated s-aryltetrazines, with satisfactory selectivity, within only ten minutes. This work provides an efficient and practical entry for further accessing highly substituted tetrazine derivatives (iodo, bromo, chloro, fluoro, and acetate precursors). It gives access to ortho-functionalized aryltetrazines which are difficult to obtain by classical Pinner-like syntheses.

Novel 3,6-unsymmetrically disubstituted-1,2,4,5-tetrazines: S-induced one-pot synthesis, properties and theoretical study

18 unprecedented 3,6-unsymmetrically disubstituted-1,2,4,5-tetrazines were synthesized, and their spectral and electrochemical properties are studied. A systematic theoretical investigation based on DFT calculations was carried out.

In situ synthesis of alkenyl tetrazines for highly fluorogenic bioorthogonal live-cell imaging probes

In spite of the wide application potential of 1,2,4,5-tetrazines, particularly in live-cell and in vivo imaging, a major limitation has been the lack of practical synthetic methods. Here we report the in situ synthesis of (E)-3-substituted 6-alkenyl-1,2,4,5-tetrazine derivatives through an elimination-Heck cascade reaction. By using this strategy, we provide 24 examples of π-conjugated tetrazine derivatives that can be conveniently prepared from tetrazine building blocks and related halides. These include tetrazine analogs of biological small molecules, highly conjugated buta-1,3-diene-substituted tetrazines, and a diverse array of fluorescent probes suitable for live-cell imaging. These highly conjugated probes show very strong fluorescence turn-on (up to 400-fold) when reacted with dienophiles such as cyclopropenes and trans-cyclooctenes, and we demonstrate their application for live-cell imaging. This work provides an efficient and practical synthetic methodology for tetrazine derivatives and will facilitate the application of conjugated tetrazines, particularly as fluorogenic probes for live-cell imaging.

Synthesis and reactivity comparisons of 1-methyl-3-substituted cyclopropene mini-tags for tetrazine bioorthogonal reactions

Substituted cyclopropenes have recently attracted attention as stable "mini-tags" that are highly reactive dienophiles with the bioorthogonal tetrazine functional group. Despite this interest, the synthesis of stable cyclopropenes is not trivial and their reactivity patterns are poorly understood. Here, the synthesis and comparison of the reactivity of a series of 1-methyl-3-substituted cyclopropenes with different functional handles is described. The rates at which the various substituted cyclopropenes undergo Diels-Alder cycloadditions with 1,2,4,5-tetrazines were measured. Depending on the substituents, the rates of cycloadditions vary by over two orders of magnitude. The substituents also have a dramatic effect on aqueous stability. An outcome of these studies is the discovery of a novel 3-amidomethyl substituted methylcyclopropene tag that reacts twice as fast as the fastest previously disclosed 1-methyl-3-substituted cyclopropene while retaining excellent aqueous stability. Furthermore, this new cyclopropene is better suited for bioconjugation applications and this is demonstrated through using DNA templated tetrazine ligations. The effect of tetrazine structure on cyclopropene reaction rate was also studied. Surprisingly, 3-amidomethyl substituted methylcyclopropene reacts faster than trans-cyclooctenol with a sterically hindered and extremely stable tert-butyl substituted tetrazine. Density functional theory calculations and the distortion/interaction analysis of activation energies provide insights into the origins of these reactivity differences and a guide to the development of future tetrazine coupling partners. The newly disclosed cyclopropenes have kinetic and stability advantages compared to previously reported dienophiles and will be highly useful for applications in organic synthesis, bioorthogonal reactions, and materials science.

Synthesis and characterization of new energetic derivatives containing a high nitrogen content moiety and picryl group: a new strategy for incorporating the picryl functionality

The synthesis of new picryl derivatives containing a high nitrogen content moiety from new starting materials are reported.