Solubility of PETN

The solubility of PETN in acetone-water mixts was determined by Aubertein (Ref 11) and is shown in Table 3. These data are of great importance in industrial practice... 

Solubilities of PETN in 60—95% nitric acid in the temp range of 0—50° were determined by Camera Mauro (Ref 63), and in 20—100% nitric acid at 23-25° by Aubertein (Ref 11) Nearly equi-dimensional PETN crystals rather than the usual needle-like crystals can be obtained by slow cooling of a 40% soln of PETN in boiling EtOAc (Ref 12)... 

Duncan also gives a new table of the solubility of PETN in some solvents (Table 49). 

TABLE 51 Solubility of PETN in nitric acid (1391 in g of ihc subsunce... 

PETN crystals have a scratch hardness of slightly less than 2 on the Mohs scale. PETN is practically insoluble in water at 25°C and 96°C the solubility is only 0.0043 and 0.018 grams per 100 grams of water, respectively. Table 8-5 lists the solubility of PETN in acetone-water mixtures. 

Table 8-5. Solubility of PETN in Acetone Water Mixtures...

Solubility of Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate Values of PETN solubility in ethyl acetate and... 

At the highest temps, water will be mostly in the vapor state (eg, at 185° the vapor pressure of water is about 11 atm while the estimated pressure in the bomb of the gaseous products for 50% decompn is about 6 aim) while the PETN is still liq. Thus the hydrolysis reaction does not take place unless there is appreciable soln of water vapor in the liq PETN, At 163° the vapor pressure of water is roughly equivalent to the total pressure in the bomb at 50% decompn. Thus, for the hydrolysis reaction to be significant at lower temps, but not at higher temps, there must be appreciable solubility of water vapor in liq PETN in the 160—70° temp range, and at lower temps, but not at temps above 185°... 

It, or further hydrolysis products should be water soluble. Water soluble nitrate-containing material was found in the wash water during separation of PETN from the rest of the residue in the bomb... 

The action of PETN on the human system is the same as that produced by all other nitric esters. Nevertheless inhalation of PETN is not dangerous, as its vapour pressure is negligible. Similarly, breathing small amounts of penthrite m the form of dust causes no deleterious effect owing to its low solubility. Lazarev [23] reports the toxicity of pentaerythritol tetranitrate to be lower than that of nitroglycerine. 

CA 50, 2172-73 (1956) (Solubilities of Hexogen PETN in ethers of glycols in dimethylform-amide) 127) W.E. Bachmann, USP 2680671 (1954) CA 48, 11062 (1954) (Treatment of the reaction mixt obtd in the prepn of Cyclonite to convert the undesirable by-product to water-sol volatile products) 128) J. Bonnet, Chim Ind(Paris)... 

Values of PETN solubility in ethyl acetate and pyridine, as reported by Desvergnes (Ref 5) are given in Table 4 ... 

PETN is insoluble in water but is soluble in a variety of organic solvents and particularly in acetone. This is clearly shown in Table 1 which contains the data of Urbariski Kwiatkowski (Ref 3), and in Table 2 which shows the more recent results of Roberts and Dinegar (Ref 21)... 

---