Nitroxy- and azidomethyl azofurazans as advanced energetic materials

Abstract

Progress in the rocket industry is only possible on the basis of new, higher performance and more environmentally friendly materials compared to up-to-date propellant ingredients for liquid, solid, gelled and hybrid propellant systems. In this work, synthetic methods have been developed for the preparation of new energetic azofurazans bearing nitroxymethyl or azidomethyl groups. All prepared compounds were fully characterized by multinuclear NMR and IR spectroscopies, as well as elemental analyses. An analysis of the structural features based on the X-ray single-crystal diffraction made it possible to discuss their influence on the densities of the azofurazans of this study. Thermal decomposition and combustion of nitroxymethyl and azidomethyl azofurazans were studied using a number of complementary experimental techniques, namely thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, manometry, microthermocouple measurements in the combustion wave. The structural and physical characteristics of these new energetic analogues illustrate the extent to which the nature of the explosophoric groups can be used to tune the performace of the azofurazan framework. These azofurazans possess positive calculated enthalpy of formation and are promising candidates for new environmentally friendly energetic materials.

Keywords

• Azofurazan
• Azide
• Nitrate ester
• X-ray
• Combustion