Trinitrotriazine Explained

Trinitrotriazine, or 2,4,6-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine, is a theoretical explosive compound. Synthesis of this compound has been elusive despite its simple structure,^{[1] [2]} as conventional nitration of triazine becomes increasingly more difficult as more nitro groups are added. A successful route would more likely proceed by trimerisation of nitryl cyanide.^[3] The precursor nitryl cyanide was first synthesized by Rahm et al. in 2014.^[4]

Trinitrotriazine has a neutral oxygen balance, potentially making it a very powerful explosive, though calculations predict it would be fairly unstable and inferior to the related compound 3,6-dinitro-1,2,4,5-tetrazine.^[5]

See also

• RDX (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine)

Notes and References

1. G. D. Hartman, R. D. Hartman and J. E. Schwering. Tetrahedron Letters. 1983; 24: 1011.
2. M. D. Coburn, C. L. Coon, H. H. Hayden and A. R. Mitchell. Synthesis. 1986: 490.
3. Korkin AA. Bartlett RJ. Theoretical Prediction of 2,4,6-Trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (TNTA). A New, Powerful, High-Energy Density Material? Journal of the American Chemical Society. 1996; 118: 12244-12245.
4. Rahm, M., Bélanger-Chabot, G., Haiges, R. and Christe, K. O. (2014), Nitryl Cyanide, NCNO₂. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 53: 6893–6897
5. Jinshan Li. An Ab Initio Theoretical Study of 2,4,6-Trinitro-1,3,5-Triazine, 3,6-Dinitro-1,2,4,5-Tetrazine, and 2,5,8-Trinitro-Tri-s-Triazine, more commonly known as RDX. Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics. December 2008; 33(6):443-447.