Hexanitrobenzene, also known as HNB, is a high-
density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...
explosive compound
Compound may refer to:
Architecture and built environments
* Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall
** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...
with
chemical formula
In chemistry, a chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbols, ...
, obtained by
oxidizing
Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a d ...
the
amine
In chemistry, amines (, ) are compounds and functional groups that contain a basic nitrogen atom with a lone pair. Amines are formally derivatives of ammonia (), wherein one or more hydrogen atoms have been replaced by a substituen ...
group of
pentanitroaniline with
hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3% ...
in
sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...
.
Properties
HNB has the undesirable property of being moderately sensitive to light and, therefore, hard to utilize safely. As of 2021, it is not used in any production explosives applications, though it is used as a precursor chemical in one method of production of
TATB
TATB, triaminotrinitrobenzene or 2,4,6-triamino-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene is an aromatic explosive, based on the basic six-carbon benzene ring structure with three nitro functional groups (NO2) and three amine (NH2) groups attached, alternating aroun ...
, another explosive.
HNB was experimentally used as a gas source for explosively pumped
gas dynamic laser
A gas dynamic laser (GDL) is a laser based on differences in relaxation velocities of molecular vibrational states. The lasing medium gas has such properties that an energetically lower vibrational state relaxes faster than a higher vibrational st ...
.
Condensed explosive gas dynamic laser
United States Patent 4099142 In this application, HNB and tetranitromethane
Tetranitromethane or TNM is an organic oxidizer with chemical formula . Its chemical structure consists of four nitro groups attached to one carbon atom. In 1857 it was first synthesised by the reaction of sodium cyanoacetamide with nitric acid.
...
are preferred to more conventional explosives because the explosion products and are a simple enough mixture to simulate gas dynamic processes and quite similar to conventional gas dynamic laser medium. The water and hydrogen products of many other explosives could interfere with vibrational states of in this type of laser.
Preparation
During World War II, a method of synthesis of hexanitrobenzene was suggested in Germany, and the product was supposed to be manufactured on a semi-industrial scale according to the following scheme:
: (partial reduction)
: (nitration)
: (oxidation)
Complete nitration of benzene is practically impossible because the nitro groups are deactivating groups for further nitration.
Additional properties
* Chapman-Jouget detonation pressure: 43 GPa
* Crystal Density: 2.01
See also
* ONC
* Tetryl
2,4,6-Trinitrophenylmethylnitramine commonly referred to as tetryl ( C7 H5 N5 O8) is an explosive compound used to make detonators and explosive booster charges.
Tetryl is a nitramine booster explosive, though its use has been largely superseded ...
* TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
* RE factor
TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. The is a unit of energy defined by that convention to be , which is the approximate energy released in the detonation of a m ...
Notes
References
Heats of Formation and Chemical Compositions
The synthesis and characterisation of halogen and nitro phenyl azide derivatives as highly energetic materials., PhD Thesis, Adam, D; 2001
*
*
* {{cite journal, doi=10.1007/BF00744430, volume= 7 , title=Crystal and molecular structure of hexanitrobenzene , journal= Journal of Structural Chemistry , author1=Z. A. Akopyan , author2=Yu. T. Struchkov , author3=V. G. Dashevskii , pages=385–392, year=1966, issue=3, s2cid= 96053767
Nitrobenzenes
Explosive chemicals