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Updated: Jun 7, 2026

Research and Development of High-performance Explosives
Published on: February 20, 2016
N-Methylene-C Bridged 4-Azido-3,5-dinitropyrazole and N-Hydroxytetrazole: Metal-Free Primary Explosive and Powerful
Priyanka Das1, Prachi Bhatia1, Meera Khatri1
1Energetic Materials Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, Uttarakhand, India.
None:
Here, we investigate a potential metal-free primary explosive, 5-((4-azido-3,5-dinitro-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methyl)-1H-tetrazol-1-ol (5), constructed by combining the 4-azido-3,5-dinitro-1H-pyrazol (AzDNP) framework with the N-hydroxytetrazole scaffold via N-methylene-C linkage. The primary explosive behavior of compound 5 was evaluated through preliminary combustion tests and by measuring its activation energy (Ea = 122.0 kJ mol-1), which falls within the typical range of conventional primary explosives. In addition, a series of high-performing secondary explosives (7-15) with fine-tuned energy and stability properties was also synthesized via salt formation. Energetic salts 6, 7, 9, and 10 showed energetic performance comparable to that of traditional explosive RDX.
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