Nitrocarbamates, decomposition

Nitramide can be prepared by the decomposition of potassium nitrocarbamate in an acidic medium ... 

The thermal decompositions of A-nitroamides and A -nitrocarbamates were found to be first order . Arrhenius parameters are shown in Table 31. In both cases the rates of decomposition increase with increasing size of the alkyl substituent, but carbamate derivatives were more stable than amides. In the case of nitrocarbamates, resonance stabilization in the ground state leads to an increase in the energy of activation leading to decomposition via a 4-centred transition state, viz. 

The reaction of acid with potassium nitrocarbamate results in the formation of nitramide (equation 15.107) which is an isomer of hyponitrous acid. Nitramide has been structurally characterized one N atom is trigonal planar (O2AN) and the other is trigonal pyramidal (H2AN)- The compound is potentially explosive, and undergoes base-catalysed decomposition to N2O and H2O. 

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