Nitric acid hazards associated with

A mixture of the alcohol with formic acid rapidly self-heated, then reacted violently [1], A stirred mixture with cyanoacetic acid exploded violently after application of heat [2], Contact with acids causes self-condensation of the alcohol, which may be explosively violent under unsuitable physical conditions. The general mechanism has been discussed [3], The explosion hazards associated with the use of acidic catalysts to polymerise furfuryl alcohol may be avoided by using as catalyst the condensation product of 1,3-phenylenediamine and l-chloro-2,3-epoxypropane [4], See Nitric acid Alcohols (reference 6)... 

There are chemical explosion hazards associated with stored reprocessing residues. The explosion near Chelyabinsk in the Urals in 1958 was, it has been suggested, powered by interaction of sodium nitrate and/or nitric acid with sodium acetate/acetic acid in nitrate wastes neutralised with sodium acetate, then stored and allowed to concentrate by radioactive heating [1]. A reprocessing incident at Tomsk in 1993 was apparently caused... 

Literature on the practical use of nitric acid-acetic anhydride includes also some warnings on explosion hazards associated with the use of mixtures of fum-ing (97%) nitric acid with acetic anhydride. Thus Brown and Watt (25] demonstrated that mixtures of nitric acid with acetic anhydride containing more than 50% by weight of nitric acid can undergo a spontaneous explosion. 

Of course, the revised nitration reaction is not free of hazards associated with human error or equipment failure. It is important to note that at Parke-Davis, we recognize that the person most familiar with a particular reaction is the development chemist. Therefore, the development chemist actually carries out the reaction in our pilot plant, and he or she can best recognize when a hazardous situation arises. Work is continuing on this reaction to further decrease the risk involved. Preliminary results using one molar equivalent of nitric acid versus CDMP look promising. 

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