Nitro Groups vs. N-Oxide Linkages: Effects Upon Some Key Determinants of Detonation Performance

Increasing the nitrogen/carbon ratios in the molecular frameworks of C,H,N,O explosives has attracted considerable attention because it tends to result in more positive heats of formation and often greater densities. In conjunction with this, there has been a growing interest in N-oxide linkages, N+ → O−, as another source of oxygen in these compounds, in addition to or even possibly replacing NO2 groups. In this study, for a series of polyazines and polyazoles, we have compared the effects of introducing a single N-oxide linkage or NO2 group upon key properties that affect detonation velocity and detonation pressure. We found that: (1) The heats of formation per gram of compound, which is what is relevant for this purpose, are almost always higher for the N-oxides. (2) The nitro derivatives have greater densities and detonation heat releases. In relation to the latter, it must be kept in mind that increasing detonation heat release tends to be accompanied by increasing sensitivity. (3) The N-oxides produce more moles of gaseous detonation products per gram of compound.