Determination of Initial Chemical Steps in the Gas-Phase Decomposition of Energetic Molecules

Abstract

Laser-powered homogeneous pyrolysis (LPHP) has been successfully used to provide conditions where surface-sensitive substrates can be indirectly heated by an infrared laser and allowed to react while remote from potentially catalytic surfaces. The use of the comparative rate technique with LPHP provides and accurate indirect temperature measurement and has made practical the extraction of thermal, decomposition Arrhenius parameters. A laser-heated, GC/ MS-monitored, stirred-flow reaction cell has been used with cyclohexene as the internal temperature standard to determine Arrhenius parameters for the homogeneous gas phase thermal decomposition of nitrotoluene (o-NT), and 2,4- dinitrotoleune (2,4-DNT). In all cases the principal rate-limiting step is the homolysis of the Ar-NO2 bond. The measured Arrhenius parameters for homolysis of the Ar-NO2 bond. The measured Arrhenius parameters for homolysis range from log A = 14.5 to 16.4, and from Ea = 67.0 to 70.0 kcal/mol. The bond dissociation energies derived from the results are 71.4, 73.2, 71.4, 70.2, and 70.6 kcal/mol, respectively, for the above series of compounds.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 09, 1986
Accession Number
ADA163751

Entities

People

  • David M. Golden
  • Donald F. Mcmillen

Organizations

  • SRI International

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Alkenes
  • Chemical Reaction Properties
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Detection
  • Dissociation
  • Energetic Materials
  • High Temperature
  • Lasers
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Molecular Weight
  • Nitro Compounds
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Reaction Mechanisms
  • Vapor Pressure

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Organic Chemistry

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers