Diazidodifluoromethane was prepared from dibromodifluoromethane, sodium azide and an alkanethiolate initiator. It represents the first example of a diazidomethane that is stable enough to be used in synthesis. The stability of (poly)azidomethanes was explored with calculations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper focuses on tetraamminecopper(II) perchlorate (TACP), a relatively newly used and popular homemade explosive that is insufficiently described in the literature. The compound was analyzed using commonly used forensic laboratory techniques such as FTIR, Raman, XRPD, and DTA. The TACP molecule was labeled with four N atoms on ammonia ligands to assign vibrational modes to the resulting bands.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA new fluorinated azidoethane─1-azido-1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethane─was prepared in quantitative yield by the addition of an azide anion to tetrafluoroethylene in a protic medium. The title azide was shown to be thermally stable and insensitive to impact. Copper(I)-catalyzed [3 + 2] cycloaddition with alkynes afforded 4-substituted -tetrafluoroethyl-1,2,3-triazoles which underwent rhodium(II)-catalyzed transannulation with nitriles to novel -tetrafluoroethylimidazoles or the reaction with triflic acid to enamido triflates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe reinvestigation of tetrazene single crystalline material by means of X-ray methods resulted in a slightly different structure when compared to previously published data. Reaction conditions responsible for different crystalline modification formation were investigated. Newly described C form was found to be the primary reaction product and the combined action of temperature and the presence of water over time is required for the transition to the A form.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe method for quantitative analysis of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD) in different matrices is presented. The method is suitable for polymer, plastic, or cellulose matrices. It is based on dissolving, or extraction of, peroxide in the solvent and measurement in cuvettes using the Fourier transform infrared technique.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFErythritol tetranitrate (ETN), an ester of nitric acid and erythritol, is a solid crystalline explosive with high explosive performance. Although it has never been used in any industrial or military application, it has become one of the most prepared and misused improvise explosives. In this study, several analytical techniques were explored to facilitate analysis in forensic laboratories.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTriacetone triperoxide (3,3,6,6,9,9-hexamethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexoxonane, TATP) is nowadays one of the most commonly used improvised explosives. It is prepared by the action of hydrogen peroxide on acetone in an acidic environment. Easily available mineral acids - hydrochloric, sulfuric, nitric and perchloric - are the most often recommended on the extremist web pages dealing with improvised production of explosives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe sensitivity to friction for a selection of primary explosives has been studied using a small BAM friction apparatus. The probit analysis was used for the construction of a sensitivity curve for each primary explosive tested. Two groups of primary explosives were chosen for measurement (a) the most commonly used industrially produced primary explosives (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Acetamidines are starting materials for synthesizing many chemical substances, such as imidazoles, pyrimidines and triazines, which are further used for biochemically active compounds as well as energetic materials. The aim of this study was to synthesise and characterise a range of acetamidinium salts in order to overcome the inconvenience connected with acetamidinium chloride, which is the only commercially available acetamidinium salt.
Results: Acetamidinium salts were synthesised and characterised by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, NMR and - in the case of energetic salts - DTA.
Stability of raw TATP (3,3,6,6,9,9-hexamethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexoxonane) samples in solutions of common solvents was studied to highlight problems faced by forensic labs in identification and analysis of organic peroxide samples. The TATP samples were prepared by reaction of acetone and hydrogen peroxide (30%) with the aid of following catalysts: hydrochloric, sulfuric, nitric, perchloric and methanesulfonic acid. Acetone, acetonitrile, methanol and acetonitrile/water solutions of TATP samples were prepared and stored at 50°C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe power of various explosive mixtures based on triacetone triperoxide (3,3,6,6,9,9-hexamethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexoxonane, TATP), ammonimum nitrate (AN), urea nitrate (UrN) and water (W), namely TATP/AN, oil/AN, TATP/UrN, TATP/W and TATP/AN/W, was studied using the ballistic mortar test. The ternary mixtures of TATP/AN/W have relatively high power in case of the low water contents. Their power decrease significantly with increasing the water content in the mixture to more than 30%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study concerns mixtures of triacetone triperoxide (3,3,6,6,9,9-hexamethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexoxonane, TATP) and ammonium nitrate (AN) with added water (W), as the case may be, and dry mixtures of TATP with urea nitrate (UN). Relative performances (RP) of the mixtures and their individual components, relative to TNT, were determined by means of ballistic mortar. The detonation energies, E0, and detonation velocities, D, were calculated for the mixtures studied by means of the thermodynamic code CHEETAH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccurate quantification of mRNA by competitive RT-PCR demands that the quality of the cRNA internal standard be strictly controlled and that at least two criteria should be satisfied. First, genomic DNA should be removed from the total RNA being analyzed; second, template DNA should be removed from the cRNA internal standard following in vitro transcription. We observed that the routine use of RNase-free DNase I is insufficient for removing template DNA from cRNA samples and can degrade cRNA.
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