On the Viability of Nitronic Acids in the Decomposition of Nitroaromatics: A Theoretical Study of Nitronic Acids

Abstract

The nitro <-> aci-nitro, keto <-> enol, and imine <-> enamine tautomeric processes in nitromethane, acetaldehyde, and acetaldimine were investigated at the G1 level of theory, in nitroacetaldehyde, 2- nitroacetaldimine, and 3-nitropropene at MP4/6-31G*, in 2-nitroaniline, 2- nitrophenol, and 2-nitrotoluene at MP2/6-31 G*, and in 2,6-dinitroaniline, 2,6- dinitrophenol, 2,6-dinitrotoluene, 2,4,6-trinitroaniline (picramide), 2,4,6- trinitrophenol(picric acid, PA), and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (NT) at HF/6-31 G*. These studies demonstrate that the ease of tautomerization is in the order PA (easiest), TNT then picramide, which parallels their sensitivity to impact. The nitronic acid tautomer of TNT is calculated at HF-/6-31G* to lie 39 kcal/mol above TNT with a 65 kcal/mol barrier (with an extrapolated value of 48 kcal/mol under MP2), while the nitronic acid tautomer of picaramide lies 48 kcal/mol above picramide beyond a 51 kcal/mol barrier. Cyclization and dehydration of the latter two nitronic acids should be overall exothermic processes. Nitronic acid, TNT, Picric acid, Picramide, Nitromethane, Cyclization, Nitroaromatics.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1993
Accession Number
ADA273594

Entities

People

  • Koop Lammertsma

Organizations

  • University of Alabama at Birmingham

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Alkenes
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Computational Science
  • Crystal Structure
  • Dissociation
  • Electron Density
  • Electrons
  • Frequency
  • Heat Of Activation
  • Ionization
  • Nitro Compounds
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Organic Compounds
  • Vinyl Alcohol

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Agricultural Chemistry/Soil Science
  • Organic Chemistry