Gas-Phase Pyrolysis of 1,3,3-Trinitroazetidine: Shock Tube Kinetics

Reactive Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the Thermal Decomposition Mechanism of 1,3,3-Trinitroazetidine

1,3,3-Trinitroazetidine (TNAZ) has a molecular formula of C₃ H₄ N₄ O₆ and the characteristics of low melting point, low impact sensitivity and good thermal stability. It is suitable for melt casting and pressed charges, and it has broad prospects for applications in low-sensitivity ammunition. In this study, the thermal decomposition of TNAZ crystals at high temperature was calculated by molecular dynamics simulation with the ReaxFF/lg reactive force field. The change in the potential energy of TNAZ, the formation of small-molecule products and clusters, and the initial reaction path of TNAZ were analysed. The kinetic parameters of different reaction stages in TNAZ thermal decomposition were obtained. The primary thermal decomposition reaction of TNAZ was found to be as follows: N-NO₂ and C-NO₂ bonds broke; a H atom on the quaternary ring was transferred to the nitro group; and the C-HNO₂ and N-HNO₂ bonds broke. The main decomposition products of TNAZ were thus NO₂ , NO, N₂ , H₂ O, CO₂ and HNO₂ , as well as macromolecular clusters. The size of the cluster structure was related to the reaction temperature, and the higher the temperature was, the smaller the cluster size was.

Insight into shock-induced chemical reaction from the perspective of ring strain and rotation of chemical bonds

Density functional theory BLYP/DNP and hyperhomodesmotic equations were employed to calculate ring strain energy, the bond dissociation energy of X-NO(2) (X=C, N) and the charges on the nitro groups of several four-membered and six-membered heterocycle compounds. BLYP/DNP and LST/QST + CG method were also applied to calculate bond rotational energy of X-NO(2) (X=C, N) of above mentioned compounds. It indicated that ring strain energy of four-membered heterocycle nitro compounds is apparently higher than that of six-membered heterocycle nitro compounds. Predictably, ring-opening reactions may preferentially occur for those compounds containing higher ring strain energy under shock. In addition, C-NO(2) bonds in these compounds may rotate easier than N-NO(2) bonds in response to the external shock. As for N-NO(2) bonds in these compounds, they also respond to the external shock by the rotation of N-NO(2) bonds, once to the saddle point of the rotational energy barrier, the whole molecule will become relaxed, N-NO(2) bond becomes weaker and eventually leads to the breakage. When one -C=O, -C=NH or -NH(2) group is introduced to the six-membered heterocycle, the charges on the nitro groups of the new compound decrease drastically, and ring strains increase remarkably. It can be predicted that the new compounds will be more sensitive to shock, and the viewpoint is confirmed by the experimental results of shock sensitivity (small scale gap test) of several explosives.

Theoretical predictions of the initial decomposition steps of dimethylnitramine

The structures and energies of the reactants, products, and transition states of the initial steps in the gas-phase decomposition of dimethylnitramine (DMNA) have been determined by quantum chemical calculations at the B3LYP density-functional theory, MP2, and G2 levels. The pathways considered are NO2 elimination, HONO elimination, and nitro-nitrite rearrangement. The NO2 elimination is predicted to be the main channel of the gas-phase decomposition of DMNA in accord with experiment. The values of the Arrhenius parameters, log A=16.6+/-0.5 and Ea=40.0+/-0.6 kcal/mol, for the N-NO2 bond-fission reaction were obtained using a canonical variational theory with B3LYP energies and frequencies. The HONO-elimination channel has the next lowest activation energy of 44.7+/-0.5 kcal/mol (log A=13.6+/-0.5) and is characterized by a five-member transition-state configuration in which a hydrogen atom from one of the methyl groups is transferred to an oxygen atom of NO2. Tunneling contributions to the rate of this reaction have been estimated. The nitro-nitrite rearrangement reaction occurs via a transition state in which both oxygen atoms of NO2 are loosely bound to the central nitrogen atom, for which Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus theory predicts log A=14.4+/-0.6 and Ea=54.1+/-0.8 kcal/mol.

The Gas-Phase Pyrolysis of Nitrocyclobutanes: a Shock-Tube Investigation Supplemented with DFT Calculations of their Thermochemical and Structural Parameters

Mono- and 1,1-dinitrocyclobutanes (highly diluted in Ar) were pyrolyzed at temperatures 860–1300 K in reflected shocks. Activation energies for their initial fragmentations were derived from measurements of relative rates of species loss, compared to cyclobutyl chloride and isopropyl bromide: