Highly Energetic, Low Sensitivity Aromatic Peroxy Acids

Chemical Descriptors for a Large-Scale Study on Drop-Weight Impact Sensitivity of High Explosives

The drop-weight impact test is an experiment that has been used for nearly 80 years to evaluate handling sensitivity of high explosives. Although the results of this test are known to have large statistical uncertainties, it is one of the most common tests due to its accessibility and modest material requirements. In this paper, we compile a large data set of drop-weight impact sensitivity test results (mainly performed at Los Alamos National Laboratory), along with a compendium of molecular and chemical descriptors for the explosives under test. These data consist of over 500 unique explosives, over 1000 repeat tests, and over 100 descriptors, for a total of about 1500 observations. We use random forest methods to estimate a model of explosive handling sensitivity as a function of chemical and molecular properties of the explosives under test. Our model predicts well across a wide range of explosive types, spanning a broad range of explosive performance and sensitivity. We find that properties related to explosive performance, such as heat of explosion, oxygen balance, and functional group, are highly predictive of explosive handling sensitivity. Yet, models that omit many of these properties still perform well. Our results suggest that there is not one or even several factors that explain explosive handling sensitivity, but that there are many complex, interrelated effects at play.

Balancing Excellent Performance and High Thermal Stability in a Dinitropyrazole Fused 1,2,3,4-Tetrazine

The key to successfully designing high-performance and insensitive energetic compounds for practical applications is through adjusting the molecular organization including both fuel and oxidizer. Now a superior hydrogen-free 5/6/5 fused ring energetic material, 1,2,9,10-tetranitrodipyrazolo[1,5-d:5',1'-f][1,2,3,4]tetrazine (6) obtained from 4,4',5,5'-tetranitro-2H,2'H-3,3'-bipyrazole (4) by N-amination and N-azo coupling reactions is described. The structures of 5 and 6 were confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction measurements. Compound 6 has a remarkable room temperature experimental density of 1.955 g cm^-3 and shows excellent detonation performance. In addition, it has a high decomposition temperature of 233 °C. These fascinating properties, which are comparable to those of CL-20, make it very attractive in high performance applications.

Resolving synthetic challenges faced in the syntheses of asymmetric N,N′-ethylene-bridged energetic compounds

Synthetic challenges faced during the syntheses of asymmetric N,N′-ethylene-bridged energetic compounds due to the differences in the reactivity and stability of various types of energetic rings are addressed.

Metal salts and complexes of 1,1′-dinitramino-5,5′-bitetrazole

The moment of detonation during a hot plate test of highly energetic sodium 1,1′-dinitramino-5,5′-bitetrazolate, the representative of the synthesized alkaline and transition metal salts which are very sensitive toward friction, impact heat and partly also susceptible to laser irradiation.

Computational assessment of nitrogen-rich peracids: a family of peroxide-based energetic materials

Nitrogen-rich 5- and 6-membered compounds substituted with nitro and peracid groups were designed and investigated using density functional theory (DFT).