Performance enhancement strategy for tetrazoles based on nitrogen-boron bonds.

Based on N-B bonds, a novel strategy was developed for improving the energetic performance of tetrazoles. By employing the amino neighboring group participation, the azolyl borane compound 7 was selectively constructed, which exhibited excellent stability in water and air. This strategy solved the acidity problem of tetrazole as well as increasing the heat of detonation and combustion by 25% and 36%, respectively. Through laser ignition experiments, it also improved the combustion performance of tetrazoles. In DSC experiments, thermal decomposition temperatures of N-B covalent compounds were elevated as well. In an electrostatic potential calculation and sensitivity test, N-B covalent compounds exhibited good sensitivity (IS > 40 J and FS > 360 N). Through TG-DSC-FTIR-MS and in situ IR experiments, decomposition products were investigated to determine the next optimization stage for heat of detonation. It offered a significant potential for development to incorporate the N-B bond into nitrogen-rich compounds.

Methyl nitrate energetic compounds based on bicyclic scaffolds of furazan-isofurazan (isoxazole): syntheses, crystal structures and detonation performances.

Two energetic bicyclic scaffolds (furazan-isoxazole and furazan-1,3,4-oxadiazole) were constructed via different cyclization reactions. Based on the energetic bicyclic scaffolds, the energetic compounds, 3-(4-nitraminofurazan-3-ly)-isoxazole-5-methylnitrate 1c and 5-(4-nitraminofurazan-3-ly)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-methylnitrate 2c, were designed and synthesized in good yields. Because of the acidity of nitramine, the corresponding energetic ionic salts, ammonium 3-(4-nitraminofurazan-3-ly)isoxazole-5-methylnitrate 1d and ammonium 5-(4-nitraminofurazan-3-ly)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-methylnitrate 2e, were also obtained and well characterized, their structures were further determined by X-ray single crystal diffraction. To have a better understanding of the structure-property relationships of furazan-bicyclic scaffolds and nitrate groups, their thermal behaviors, detonation performances and the sensitivities were investigated via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), ESP analysis, Hirshfeld surfaces calculation, EXPLO5 program and BAM standard techniques. Compared with those of ammonium 5-(4-nitraminofurazan-3-ly)-1,2,4-oxadiazole-2-methylnitrate 3e, the results show that all these methyl nitrate energetic compounds based on bicyclic scaffolds of furazan-isofurazan exhibit good detonation performances and extraordinary insensitivities. As supported by experimental and theoretical data, the formation of energetic ionic salts causes an increase of the weak interactions, significantly improving the thermal performance over 110 °C.

5-Nitrotetrazol and 1,2,4-Oxadiazole Methylene-Bridged Energetic Compounds: Synthesis, Crystal Structures and Performances.

A new structural type for melt cast materials was designed by linking nitrotetrazole ring with 1,2,4-oxadiazole through a N-CH2-C bridge for the first time. Three N-CH2-C linkage bridged energetic compounds, including 3-((5-nitro-2H-tetrazol-2-yl) methyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazole (NTOM), 3-((5-nitro-2H-tetrazol-2-yl)methyl)-5-(trifluoromethyl)-1,2,4 -oxadiazole (NTOF) and 3-((5-nitro-2H-tetrazol-2-yl)methyl)-5-amine-1,2,4-oxadiazole (NTOA), were designed and synthesized through a two-step reaction by using 2-(5-nitro-2H-tetrazole -2-yl)acetonitrile as the starting material. The synthesized compounds were fully characterized by NMR (1H, 13C), IR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The single crystals of NTOM, NTOF and NTOA were successfully obtained and investigated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The thermal stabilities of these compounds were evaluated by DSC-TG measurements, and their apparent activation energies were calculated by Kissinger and Ozawa methods. The crystal densities of the three compounds were between 1.66 g/cm3 (NTOA) and 1.87 g/cm3 (NTOF). The impact and friction sensitivities were measured by standard BAM fall-hammer techniques, and their detonation performances were computed using the EXPLO 5 (v. 6.04) program. The detonation velocities of the three compounds are between 7271 m/s (NTOF) and 7909 m/s (NTOM). The impact sensitivities are >40 J, and the friction sensitivities are >360 N. NTOM, NTOF and NTOA are thermally stable, with decomposition points > 240 °C. The melting points of NTOM and NTOF are 82.6 °C and 71.7 °C, respectively. Hence, they possess potential to be used as melt cast materials with good thermal stabilities and better detonation performances than TNT.

Synthesis of Energetic 7-Nitro-3,5-dihydro-4H-pyrazolo[4,3-d][1,2,3]triazin-4-one Based on a Novel Hofmann-Type Rearrangement.

Rearrangement reactions are efficient strategies in organic synthesis and contribute enormously to the development of energetic materials. Here, we report on the preparation of a fused energetic structure of 7-nitro-3,5-dihydro-4H-pyrazolo[4,3-d][1,2,3]triazin-4-one (NPTO) based on a novel Hofmann-type rearrangement. The 1,2,3-triazine unit was introduced into the fused bicyclic skeleton from a pyrazole unit for the first time. The new compound of NPTO was fully characterized using multinuclear NMR and IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis as well as X-ray diffraction studies. The thermal behaviors and detonation properties of NPTO were investigated through a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC-TG) approach and EXPLO5 program-based calculations, respectively. The calculation results showed similar detonation performances between NPTO and the energetic materials of DNPP and ANPP, indicating that NPTO has a good application perspective in insensitive explosives and propellants.

Synthesis and properties of azamonocyclic energetic materials with geminal explosophores.

Diversity-oriented synthesis of energetic pyrimidine structures with geminal explosophoric groups of geminal dinitro and azido-nitro groups via a novel reductive cleavage and oxidative coupling strategy is reported. Fluorine has also been introduced for the first time based on the nucleophilic coupling process. The obtained energetic pyrimidines are investigated via X-ray diffraction and theoretical techniques of electrostatic potential and proton affinity calculations. Both experimental and calculation results showed impressive detonation performances and good application prospects of the energetic pyrimidine structures. Among them, DNNC exhibited great promise as a green oxidant in solid propellant formulations to replace ammonium perchlorate (AP). TNHA (ρ = 1.79 g cm-3, D = 8537 m s-1, P = 32.69 Gpa) and TNHF (ρ = 1.85 g cm-3, D = 8517 m s-1, P = 32.64 Gpa) proved to be ideal candidates for high explosives due to their high densities and detonation properties. Moreover, TNHA could also be applied as a potential underwater explosive owing to its great heat of formation.

3,4-Bis(3-tetrazolylfuroxan-4-yl)furoxan: A Linear C-C Bonded Pentaheterocyclic Energetic Material with High Heat of Formation and Superior Performance.

The design and preparation of new nitrogen-rich heterocyclic compounds are of considerable significance for the development of high-performing energetic materials. By combining nitrogen-rich tetrazole and oxygen-rich furoxan, a linear C-C bonded pentaheterocyclic energetic compound, 3,4-bis(3-tetrazolylfuroxan-4-yl) furoxan (BTTFO), was synthesized using a facile and straightforward method. Comprehensive X-ray analysis reveals the key role of hydrogen bonds, π-π interactions, and short contacts in the formation of dense packing of BTTFO and explains why a long chain-shaped molecule has a high density. This multicyclic structure incorporating three furoxan and two tetrazole moieties results in an exceptionally high heat of formation (1290.8 kJ mol-1) and favorable calculated detonation performances (v D, 8621 m s-1, P, 31.5 GPa). The interesting structure and fascinating properties demonstrated the feasibility of a linear multicyclic approach as a high-energy-density skeleton. Additionally, the thermodynamic parameters, electrostatic potential (ESP), and frontier molecular orbitals were also studied to get a better understanding of structure-property correlations.

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.

A promising insensitive energetic material based on a fluorodinitromethyl explosophore group and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,3,5-triazine: synthesis, crystal structure and performance.

The introduction of fluorodinitromethyl energetic groups is an efficient strategy to improve the performances of energetic materials. In this paper, an insensitive energetic compound 6-(fluorodinitromethyl)-3-nitro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,3,5-triazine (FMTNT) was designed and synthesized based on the modification of 1,3,5-triazine backbone via the nitration-rearrangement, reduction and fluorination sequence. The single crystal of FMTNT was firstly obtained and determined, meanwhile, this novel structure was also fully characterized by the methods of IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 19F NMR and elemental analysis. Studies on thermal behaviors and detonation performances of FMTNT were also carried out through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC-TG) approach and EXPLO5 program, respectively. The decomposition temperature of FMTNT is found to be at 157.5 °C via thermal chemical analysis and the detonation performances were proved to be good, with a detonation velocity of 8624.8 m s-1 and detonation pressure of 29.1 Gpa. Furthermore, the experimental results showed that impact and friction sensitivity reaches 20 J and 240 N, even less sensitive than TNT, indicating a broad perspective in the application of insensitive explosives and propellants.

A comparative study of the structures, thermal stabilities and energetic performances of two energetic regioisomers: 3(4)-(4-aminofurazan-3-yl)-4(3)-(4-nitrofurazan-3-yl)furoxan.

Although energetic regioisomers have attracted intensive attention due to their interesting structure-property correlation, their effective synthesis and accurate identification has remained very difficult. In this paper, we synthesized two energetic regioisomers, namely 3-(4-aminofurazan-3-yl)-4-(4-nitrofurazan-3-yl)furoxan (ANFF-34) and 4-(4-aminofurazan-3-yl)-3-(4-nitrofurazan-3-yl)furoxan (ANFF-43), via a controllable strategy with improved yields of 32% and 38%, respectively. The structures of ANFF-34 and ANFF-43 were unambiguously identified using comparative studies of 15N NMR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Moreover, their thermal behaviours, and non-isothermal thermodynamic parameters were systematically investigated. Both ANFF-34 (T m: 116.2 °C, T d: 255.4 °C) and ANFF-43 (T m: 106.2 °C, T d: 255.6 °C) have similar thermal decomposition processes to that of DNTF. The superior performances of ANFF-34 (ρ: 1.8 g cm-3, D: 8214 m s-1, P: 30.5 GPa, IS > 40 J) and ANFF-43 (ρ: 1.7 g cm-3, D: 7868 m s-1, P: 27.0 GPa, IS > 40 J) indicate their great potential to be used as melt-cast carrier explosives. This study provides a solid foundation for the design and synthesis of new energetic compounds through isomer effects.

The Ingenious Synthesis of a Nitro-Free Insensitive High-Energy Material Featuring Face-to-Face and Edge-to-Face π-Interactions.

Density, detonation property, and sensitivity may be the most valued features when evaluating an energetic material. By reasoning structure-property relationships, a nitro-free planar energetic material with high nitrogen and oxygen content, 7-hydroxy-difurazano[3,4-b:3',4'-f]furoxano[3″,4″-d]azepine (4), was synthesized using a unique and facile approach. The structure was fully characterized by IR and NMR spectra, elemental analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The expected properties of 4, including a high density of 1.92 g cm-3, high detonation velocity of 8,875 m s-1, and low mechanical sensitivities (impact sensitivity, 21 J and friction sensitivity, >360 N), confirm our strategy. Interestingly, the single-crystal structures of 4 reveal expected face-to-face and edge-to-face π-interactions in the crystal stacking. The remarkable differences in crystal stacking of 4 provide unequivocal evidence that face-to-face π-π interactions contribute significantly to closer assembly and higher density.

New Strategy for Enhancing Energetic Properties by Regulating Trifuroxan Configuration: 3,4-Bis(3-nitrofuroxan-4-yl)furoxan.

It is of current development to construct high-performance energetic compounds by aggregation of energetic groups with dense arrangement. In this study, a hydrogen-free high-density energetic 3,4-bis(3-nitrofuroxan-4-yl)furoxan (BNTFO-I) was designed and synthesized in a simple, and straightforward manner. Its isomer, 3,4-bis(4-nitrofuroxan-3-yl)furoxan (BNTFO-IV), was also obtained by isomerization. The structures of BNTFO-I and BNTFO-IV were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray analysis for the first time. Surprisingly, BNTFO-I has a remarkable calculated crystal density of 1983 g cm-3 at 296 K, which is distinctly higher than BNTFO-IV (1.936 g cm-3, 296 K), and ranks highest among azole-based CNO compounds yet reported. It is noteworthy that BNTFO-I exhibits excellent calculated detonation properties (vD, 9867 m s-1, P, 45.0 GPa). The interesting configuration differences of BNTFO-I and BNTFO-IV provide insight into the design of new advanced energetic materials.

Synthesis, Characterization and Performance of Promising Energetic Materials Based on 1,3-Oxazinane.

1,3-oxazinane is an ideal framework for advanced energetic materials because of its compact skeleton and the presence of several modifiable sites. However, investigations on characterization and performance of 1,3-oxazinane energetic compounds are extremely limited. Two heterocyclic 1,3-oxazinane molecules were synthesized under different Mannich condensation processes and further reacted to form nitro- and azide-substituted energetic compounds 3,5,5-trinitro-1,3-oxazinane (TNTON) and 5-azido-3,5-dinitro-1,3-oxazinane (ADTON), in good yields. Interestingly, the two energetic molecules showed distinct physical properties. ADTON shows an impressive glass transition temperature (Tg) as low as -46 °C with high density, which is highly suitable for rate-accelerating materials. TNTON exhibits good thermal stabilities (melting point of 89 °C and a decomposition point of 231 °C) and highly insensitive behavior (38 J, 360 N). The theoretical detonation pressure of TNTON is ca. 63 % higher than that of TNT, indicating broad application prospects in melt-cast explosives.

Effect of Fluoro Substituents on Polynitroarylenes: Design, Synthesis and Theoretical Studies of Fluorinated Nitrotoluenes.

The replacement of traditional polynitroarylenes by their fluorinated derivatives has attracted great attention due to the improvements on detonation performance caused by the fluorine effect. A straightforward synthesis of three novel fluorinated nitrotoluenes with different degrees of nitration was achieved under selected high temperatures. The fluorine exerted remarkable influence on the nitration process through the electron-withdrawing effect and a mechanism of the transformation was proposed according to the experimental results. Thermal decomposition behavior of the fluorinated nitrotoluenes was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and all the compounds showed ideal low melt points for the melt-cast process. X-ray analysis of the fluorinated derivatives were carried out as well as density functional calculations to establish the electronic density and electrostatic potential on the molecular surface of the optimized structures. The good thermal and detonation properties make the newly developed fluorinated nitrotoluenes possible replacements for trinitrotoluene and dinitrotoluene in the formation of melt-cast energetic materials.

A Family of Energetic Materials Based on 1,2,4-Oxadiazole and 1,2,5-Oxadiazole Backbones With Low Insensitivity and Good Detonation Performance.

Design and synthesis of new compounds with both high detonation performances and good safety properties have always been a formidable task in the field of energetic materials. By introducing -ONO2 and -NHNO2 moieties into 1,2,4-oxadiazole- and 1,2,5-oxadiazole-based backbones, a new family of energetic materials, including ammonium 3-nitramino-4-(5-hydroxymethyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)-furazan (4), 3,3'-bis[5-nitroxymethyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl]-4,4'-azofuroxan (6), [3-(4-nitroamino-1,2,5-oxadiazol-3-yl)-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl]-methylene nitrate (8), and its energetic ionic salts (10-12), were synthesized and fully characterized. The energetic and physical properties of the materials were investigated through theoretical calculations and experimental determination. The results show that the oxadiazole-based compounds exhibit high enthalpy of formations, good detonation performances, and extraordinary insensitivities. In particular, the hydrazinium salt (11) shows the best energetic properties (11: d = 1.821 g cm-3; P = 35.1 GPa, v D = 8,822 m s-1, IS = 40 J, FS > 360N). The ESP and Hirshfeld surface analysis indicated that a large number of hydrogen bonds as well as π-π stacking interactions within molecules might be the key reason for their low sensitivities and high energy-density levels.

Experimental and theoretical studies on stability of new stabilizers for N-methyl-P-nitroaniline derivative in CMDB propellants.

Although N-methyl-P-nitroaniline (MNA) was a quite effective stabilizer in composite modified double base (CMDB) propellants, it undergoes crystallization easily from nitroglycerin (NG) during storage. In order to improve its solubility in nitroglycerin (NG) and the stability in propellants, several new stabilizers including N-ethyl-p-nitroaniline (ENA), N-n-propyl-p-nitroaniline (n-PNA), N-i-propyl-p-nitroaniline (i-PNA), N-n-butyl-p-nitroaniline (n-BNA) and N-t-butyl-p-nitroaniline (t-BNA) were designed and synthesized to replace MNA by increasing the carbon chain length. The interaction between NG and different stabilizers was simulation by Materials Studio 5.5 and the stability and the high temperature stability performance of those new stabilizers in propellants were calculated by Gaussian 09. It was found that both the solubility of new stabilizers in NG and the stability and the high temperature stability performance of those in propellants were improved when the carbon chain length of substitution groups on nitrogen atom was increased. Thus, the n-BNA was a most potential stabilizer. Then all properties of the stabilizers were studied experimentally, which was agreement well with the theoretical analysis.

High Energy Density Materials Incorporating 4,5-Bis(dinitromethyl)-Furoxanate and 4,5-Bis(dinitromethyl)-3-Oxy-Furoxanate.

3-Oxy-furoxanate is immobilized in a heterometallic energetic metal-organic framework (MOFs). Two furoxan-based MOFs ([Ag2 K4 (BDOFO)(BDFO)2 (H2 O)6 ]n , [K2 (BDFO)]n ) and a salt ([(BDFO2- )(NH2 NH3 + )2 (H2 O)]n (BDOFO2- =4,5-bis(dinitromethyl)-3-oxy-furoxanate, BDFO2- =4,5-bis(dinitromethyl)-furoxanate) are synthesized and their energetic performance evaluated. This study outlines the systematic investigation of detonation performance of 3-oxy-furoxan and its derivatives.