Chemistry of 2,5-diaminotetrazole

1,5-Diaminotetrazole is one of the most prominent high-nitrogen tetrazole compounds described in the literature. Interestingly the isomer 2,5-diaminotetrazole is nearly undescribed due to its challenging synthetic routes. 2,5-Diaminotetrazol (1) was successfully synthesized via amination of 5-aminotetrazole followed by various purification steps to separate it from isomeric 1,5-diaminotetrazole. In addition to the extensive characterization of 2,5-DAT further derivates by protonation, methylation and amination of the tetrazole ring were synthesized and characterized. The resulting tri-functionalized, ionic tetrazolium derivatives were combined with energetic anions (nitrate, perchlorate, azide, 5,5'-bistetrazole-1,1'-diolate (BTO^2-)) to adjust and tune the properties of each compound. All compounds were intensively characterized including IR and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, thermal analysis through DTA, X-ray diffraction and sensitivity testing. The purity was verified by CHNO elemental analysis and the energetic properties were calculated using the EXPLO5 code and the calculated enthalpy of formation (CBS-4M).

Series of AzTO-Based Energetic Materials: Effect of Different π-π Stacking Modes on Their Thermal Stability and Sensitivity

π-Stacking is common in materials, but different π-π stacking modes remarkably affect the properties and performances of materials. In particular, weak interactions, π-stacking and hydrogen bonding, often have a great impact on the stability and sensitivity of high-energetic compounds. Therefore, several of energetic materials based on 1,1'-dihydroxyazotetrazole (1) with a nearly flat structure, such as the salts of aminoguanidine (2), 1,3-diaminoguanidine (3), imidazole (4), pyrazole (5) and triaminoguanidine (6), and a cocrystal of 2-methylimidazole (7), were designed and synthesized. Based on single-crystal diffraction data, thermal decomposition behaviors, and the mechanical sensitivity test, the compounds of 4, 5, and 7 with face-to-face π-π stacking display outstanding thermal stability and insensitivity.

Synthetic and thermal studies of four insensitive energetic materials based on oxidation of the melamine structure

Oxidation of nitrogen-rich aromatic heterocycles has a significant impact on the development of energetic materials. 2,4,6-Triamino-1,3,5-triazine-1,3-dioxide (MDO) is a promising insensitive energetic backbone obtained from melamine under strong oxidation conditions with impressive thermal behaviors and detonation performances. In this paper, MDO was prepared with improved yields of 85% and its thermal behavior, non-isothermal decomposition kinetics and gas products were investigated in detail. The corresponding decomposition mechanism was also deduced by applying the TG-DSC-FTIR-MS technique for the first time. The decomposition temperature of MDO reaches 300 °C and the apparent activation energy of MDO (E) calculated by the Kissinger and Ozawa method proved to be 303.63 and 279.95 kJ mol⁻¹, indicating great thermal stability. Three new monoanionic energetic salts with impressively improved properties were achieved based on the basicity of MDO with yields of >80%. Their thermal decomposition temperatures proved to be higher than 230 °C and their densities are in the range of 1.75–1.89 g cm⁻³. The calculations and experiments show that their detonation velocities (v_D: 8711–9085 m s⁻¹) are comparable to or exceed those of RDX (D: 8795 m s⁻¹) while the sensitivities to impact (IS: 23–27 J) and friction (FS: >240 J) are much lower.

The synthesis, thermal behavior and detonation performance of MDO and its monoanionic energetic salts were comprehensively studied.

Identifying and characterizing translationally modulated molecular crystal structures

Most structural (i.e. displacive) modulations make molecules independent that had been related by translation in a phase having a smaller or centered unit cell. In the modulated structure the independent molecules are differentiated by small translations, rotations, and/or conformational changes but an approximate translational relationship is normally retained. A program has been written to identify such pseudotranslations because they can be difficult to find by eye and because they combine with each other and with lattice translations in ways that can be confusing. To characterize the pseudotranslations the program calculates their fractional translational, orientational, and conformational components as well as several quality indicators. While many pseudotranslations are obvious, others are borderline; setting tolerances for identifying a pseudotranslation proved difficult. Defaults were chosen to reproduce experience-based judgment but they can be varied in the program input. The program was run for organic and for metallo-organic structures with R ≤ 0.075 in the 2019 release of the Cambridge Structural Database. The frequency of pseudotranslations increases with Z' and is approximately 50% for Z' > 4. Some structures were found in which an identified pseudotranslation cannot correspond to a modulation. These include structures in which some but not all of the molecules are related by pseudotranslations and structures in which pseudotranslations in different parts of the unit cell have different directions.

The cocrystal structure of 1′-hydroxy-1H,1′H-[5,5′-bitetrazol]-1-olate and 1,10-phenanthrolin-1-ium, C14H10N10O2

C14H10N10O2, monoclinic, P21/n (no. 14), a = 9.6366(19) Å, b = 9.5098(19) Å, c = 16.095(3) Å, β = 103.59(3)°, V = 1433.7(5) Å3, Z = 4, R gt(F) = 0.0579, wR ref(F 2) = 0.1309, T = 153(2) K.

Novel strategies for synthesizing energetic materials based on BTO with improved performances

The layer-by-layer assembly of molecules is ubiquitous in nature. Highly ordered structures formed in this manner often exhibit fascinating material properties. A layer hydrogen bonding pairing approach allows the development of tunable energetic materials with targeted properties. A series of unusual energetic compounds based on 1H,1'H-5,5'-bistetrazole-1,1'-diolate (1), such as the salts of 3-amino-1,2,4-triazolium (2), aminoguanidinium (3), and hydrazinium (4), and the cocrystals of 4-amino-1H-pyrazole (5), 2-methylimidazole (6), and imidazole (7), were synthesized using this strategy. The structures of the obtained products 2-7 were fully characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray analysis. Their thermal decomposition behavior was studied by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry. Their mechanical sensitivities and detonation performances were also analyzed in detail. Results show that products 2-7 exhibit higher density, better detonation performances, and more excellent sensitivities than those of the same species of cation salts previously reported.

From BTO2− to HBTO− insensitive energetic salt: a route to boost energy

A promising strategy was utilized to boost the detonation performance of insensitive energetic salts.

Novel insensitive energetic-cocrystal-based BTO with good comprehensive properties

Combining a layer construction strategy with cocrystallization techniques, we designed and prepared a structurally unusual 1H,1′H-5,5′-bistetrazole-1,1′-diolate (BTO) based energetic cocrystal, which we also confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and powder-crystal X-ray diffraction. The obtained cocrystal crystallizes in a triclinic system, P-1 space group, with a density of 1.72 g cm⁻³. The properties including the thermal stability, sensitivity and detonation performance of the cocrystal were analyzed in detail. In addition, the thermal decomposition behavior of the cocrystal was studied by differential calorimetry and thermogravimetry tandem infrared spectroscopy. The results indicated that the cocrystal exhibits strong resistance to thermal decomposition up to 535.6 K. The cocrystal also demonstrates a sensitivity of >50 J. Moreover, its formation enthalpy was estimated to be 2312.0 kJ mol⁻¹, whereas its detonation velocity and detonation pressure were predicted to be 8.213 km s⁻¹ and 29.1 GPa, respectively, by applying K–J equations. Therefore, as expected, the obtained cocrystal shows a good comprehensive performance, which proves that a high degree of layer-by-layer stacking is essential for the structural density, thermal stability and sensitivity.

Combining a layer construction strategy with cocrystallization techniques, we designed and prepared an unusual energetic cocrystal, which confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

The novel compound dimethylamine-5,5′-bistetrazole-1,1′-diolate: crystal structure, thermal investigation, safety evaluation and theoretical studies

The crystal of DMA-BTO, one unknown intermediate in the production of famous high energy insensitive explosive TKX-50, was easily prepared and characterized. Its thermal behaviors, safety parameters and theoretical studies were performed.