Some Chemical and Structural Factors Related to the Metastabilities of Energetic Compounds

Some Chemical and Structural Factors Related to the Metastabilities of Energetic Compounds 

University of New Orleans, Department of Chemistry, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148 

Some of the data relevant to the first issue can now be predicted with generally satisfactory accuracy this includes density [1-3], heat of formation [4-6], detonation pressure and velocity [7,8] and specific impulse [9], These properties permit meaningful assessments of the potential level of energetic performance. The prediction of sensitivity, however, continues to be an area of considerable activity. 

A key point, with regard to both issues, is the decomposition process of the compound What are its energetics and how readily does it occur Our emphasis in this chapter shall be upon factors that influence the ease with which decomposition can be initiated by unwanted external stimuli, i.e. sensitivity. These stimuli may be of various types, including impact, shock, friction, heat and electrostatic charge [8]. Relative vulnerabilities to these different effects need not be the same for example, the onset temperatures for the thermal decomposition of TNT (1) and HMX (2) are quite similar, but the latter is much more likely to undergo detonation upon impact [8]. It has been shown, however, that there is a general correlation between impact and shock sensitivities [10], which are the ones upon which we will focus. 

Impact and shock sensitivities depend upon a variety of factors chemical, structural and physical. We shall limit our discussion to the effects of molecular structure (i.e. chemical composition and molecular geometry). 

---