Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 17, 2025

Supercritical Nitrogen Processing for the Purification of Reactive Porous Materials
Published on: May 15, 2015
Thermal Decomposition of Gas-Phase Bis(1,2,4-oxadiazole)bis(methylene) Dinitrate (BODN): A CCSD(T)-F12/DFT-Based
Jeffrey D Veals1, Chiung-Chu Chen1
1DEVCOM U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland 21005, United States.
Abstract:
Electronic structure methods based on density functional theory and coupled-cluster theory were employed to characterize elementary steps for the gas-phase thermal decomposition of bis(1,2,4-oxadiazole)bis(methylene) dinitrate (BODN). As typically found for nitrate ester-functionalized compounds, NO2 and HONO eliminations were the most energetically favorable unimolecular paths for the parent molecule's decomposition. From there, sequences of unimolecular reactions for daughters of the initiation steps were postulated and characterized. For intermediates found to have barriers to unimolecular decomposition that would make their rate at the temperatures and time scales of interest negligible, their decomposition via H-atom abstraction and radical-addition reactions was characterized. Creating a comprehensive network that can be employed to develop a detailed finite-rate chemical kinetics mechanism for simulating BODN's decomposition, the results provide a basis for modeling BODN's combustion, as well as its response to thermal loads germane to its aging, storage, and handling.
Related Concept Videos
Carboxylic Acids to Methylesters: Alkylation using Diazomethane
[4+2] Cycloaddition of Conjugated Dienes: Diels–Alder Reaction
Cycloaddition Reactions: MO Requirements for Thermal Activation
1° Amines to Diazonium or Aryldiazonium Salts: Diazotization with NaNO2 Mechanism
Oxidation of Alkenes: Syn Dihydroxylation with Osmium Tetraoxide
Hydrolysis of Chlorobenzene to Phenol: Dow Process

