Nitroglycerin chemistry

Senese, Fred. Why is nitroglycerin explosive Frostburg State University s Department of Chemistry Web site. Available... 

The late 19th century saw the development of a new family of "smokeless" powders, as modern organic chemistry blossomed and the nitration reaction became commercially feasible. Two "esters" - nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine - became the major components of these new propellants. An ester is a compound formed from the reaction between an acid and an alcohol. Figure 6.1 illustrates the formation of NC and NG from nitric acid and the precursor alcohols cellulose and glycerine. 

Nitroglycerin was first prepared late in the year 1846 or early in 1847 by the Italian chemist, Ascanio Sobrero (1812-1888), who was at the time professor of applied chemistry at the University of Torino. Sobrero had studied medicine in the same city, and in 1834 had been authorized to practice as a physician. After that he studied with Pelouze in Paris and served as his assistant in his private laboratory from 1840 to 1843. In 1843 he left Paris, studied for several months with Liebig at Giessen, and returned to Torino where he took up the duties of a teacher and in 1845... 

In propellant chemistry, especially so in the case of nitrocellulose-containing powders, the stabilizers employed are compounds which, owing to their chemical structure, prevent the acid-catalyzed decomposition of nitrocellulose, nitroglycerine, and similar nitrate esters. 

Using some of his father s old books, chemistry texts from the library, and ideas he picked up in his high school classes, Linus figured out for himself how to make homemade explosives mixtures of potassium chlorate and sulfur that went off when a trolley car ran over them (the company sent a man to Linus s house to put a stop to it) and an unstable iodide of nitrogen that popped loudly when disturbed—a sort of junior-grade nitroglycerine that proved very popular at school. Acid spills ruined his pants and ate the ends off brooms. He once set fire to the wooden walls with molten phosphorus. 

The chemistry of explosives was very active at that time as nitroglycerine was introduced. Nitrocellulose, known as gun cotton, was produced by the direct nitration of cellulose. The discovery and the use of nitrocellulose were associated with the names of two scientists, Schonbein and Bottger. 

The world conflict of 1914-18 opened a new field of study in the Chemistry of War that of the war gases. Thus the Chemistry of War, which had for its cradle the chemical laboratory in Turin where Ascanio Sobrero discovered nitroglycerine and which for 60 years was confined to the study of explosives, underwent a new development and a new orientation when substances which had an offensive action on the human and animal organism were first used on the field of battle. Then commenced the study of war gases which has become one of the most complex and important departments of chemistry. 

For several years after the discovery of nitroglycerin, the possibility of using it as an explosive attracted very little interest. Indeed, it first came into use as a medicine, and the first serious study on its preparation, after the work of Sobrero, was made by J. E. de Vrij, professor of chemistry in the Medical School at Rotterdam, and published in the Dutch journal of < pharmacy, Ti)dschrift voor wetensch. pharm., in 1865, The next... 

The Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) invented a safe way to use nitroglycerine. He mixed liquid nitroglycerine with sand to form a paste that could be shaped into rods. Nobel patented the mixture, which he called dynamite, and the blasting caps used to detonate the rods. The invention of dynamite greatly reduced the cost of drilling road and railway tunnels through rock. Nobel left most of his money to endow annual prizes in peace, chemistry, physics, medicine, and literature. These prizes are called Nobel Prizes. 

Nobel, Alfred B. (1833-1896). A native of Sweden, Nobel devoted most of his life to a study of explosives and was the inventor of a mixture of nitroglycerin and diatomaceous earth, which he called dynamite. He also invented blasting gelatin and smokeless powder. With the fortune he accumulated from his work, Nobel established the foundation that bears his name, which annually recognizes outstanding work in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and human relations. The Nobel Prize is still the world s most valued scientific award. 

Nobel s brother had been killed and his father physically disabled in a nitroglycerine explosion in 1864. Nobel willed 9.2 million to establish a fund for annual prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. The prizes were first awarded in 1901. 

Nitroglycerin. Imperial College of London, Department of Chemistry. http //www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/mim/environmental/html/ nitroglyc text.htm (accessed on October 20, 2005). 

SGuTarG, nScaniG (1812—ISSS ). The discoverer of Nitroglycerin G) (see Vol 6, G99-R). Sobrero qualified as a physician and surgeon, but later studied chemistry in Turin, Paris, and Giessen. In 1849 he returned to Turin as Professor of Applied Chemistry in the Technical Institute, later becoming Professor of Pure Chemistry as well. He retired in 1882... 

Nitroglycerin aktiebolaget (Gyttorp, 1964), pp. 9, 24. The metaphors the laboratory is a kitchen, and chemistry is cooking are still commonly in use, especially among organic chemists. The significance of this is itself a worthy field for study. 

On 31 May 1914, less than a month before the assassinations in Sarajevo, Italian chemists met in Turin for a conference, convened by the Associazione Chimica Industriale, to celebrate the life of Ascanio Sobrero (1812-1888). Sobrero was an early chemistry student of T.J. Pelouze in Paris and Justus von Liebig in Giessen, who had spent his life as a professor of chemistry at the University of Turin. In 1846-1847, he made his name with the development of nitroglycerine, and later acted as a consultant for the dynamite plant that Alfred Nobel established in Avigliana, a few kilometres from Turin. ... 

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