Silica sulfuric acid/HNO3 as a novel heterogeneous system for the nitrolysis of DADN to HMX under mild conditions

Abstract

1,5-Diacetyl-3,7-dinitro-l,3,5,7-tetraazacyclooctane (DADN) is a key intermediate in the preparation of octahydro- 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7- tetrazocine (HMX), one of the most powerful high-melting explosives. The present investigation focuses on nitrolysis of DADN to HMX by developing a new nitrolysis process involving the use of nitric acid catalyzed by Silica Sulfuric Acid (SSA). In order to optimize the process parameters for synthesis of HMX to obtain higher yield and purity, a study was carried out with variation of some parametric conditions like time, mole ratio of SSA and nitric. This method gave us green and mild conditions for nitration reaction.