Abstract and subjects
Understanding the factors that contribute to explosive sensitivity is key to developing new explosives. Explosive sensitivity is controlled by multiple factors some of which include crystal packing, hydrogen bonding and co-crystallization. Explosive functional groups impart a chemical effect towards explosive sensitivity due to different functional groups having different thermodynamic stabilities and decomposition methods. Herein we report the synthesis of erythritol and pentaerythritol complexes functionalized with nitrate esters, nitramines and azides. Six molecules were synthesized (two literature reported, four new complexes) and their explosive sensitivity was compared to ETN and PETN using impact, spark and friction sensitivity measurements. The molecules synthesized were a mixture of solids and liquids leading to questions about the effects of physical state on explosive sensitivity. These molecules were compared to our recent study on the impact sensitivity of molten ETN. Stereoisomers of ETN were synthesized to compare with liquid samples at room temperature. We observed that by mixing functional groups of varying sensitivity we were able to tune the explosive sensitivity of the molecule. Additionally, we observed liquid explosives with higher sensitivities than solid explosives, as to be expected due to their differing modes of initiation for liquid vs. solid explosives. These results suggest functionalization of known explosive frameworks can be used to tune explosive sensitivity due to changes in both chemical and physical properties of the molecules.