The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives - Sciencemadness Dot Org

140 AROMATIC NITRO COMPOUNDS
Cast tnnitrobenzene
Cast tetryl
Cast trinitrotoluene
Cast picin icid
Comprebsed trinitrotoluene (rf 0 909)
Compiessed picric acid (d 0 862)
Cordeau
METERS PER SECOND
7441
7229
7028
6777
4961
4835
6900
Nitration of Chlorobenzene
The nitration of chlorobenzene is easier than the nitration of
benzene and moie difficult than the nitration of toluene Tnnitroehlorobenzene
(pieryl chloride) can be prepared on the plant
scale by the nitration of dimtrochlorobenzene, but the process is
expensive of acid and leads to but few valuable explosives which
cannot be procured more cheaply and more simply from dimtrochlorobenzene
by other processes Indeed, there are only two
important explosives, namely TNB and hexamtrobiphenyl, for
the preparation of which picrvl chloride could be used advantageously
if it were available in large amounts In the laboratory,
pieryl chloride is best prepared by the action of phosphorus
pentachlonde on picric acid
During the early days of the first World War in Europe, electrolytic
processes for the production of caustic soda were yielding
in this country more chlorine than was needed by the chemical
industries, and it was necessary to dispose of the excess The
pressure to produce toluene had made benzene cheap and
abundant. The chlorine, which would otherwise have become a
nuisance and a menace, was used for the ehlormation of benzene
Chlorobenzene and dichlorobenzene became available, and
dichlorobenzene since that time has been used extensively as an
insecticide and moth exterminator Dinitrodichlorobenzene was
tried as an explosive under the name of parazol When mixed
with TNT in high-explosive shells, it did not detonate completely,
but presented interesting possibilities because the unexploded
portion, atomized in the air, was a vigorous itch-producer and
lachrymator, and because the exploded portion yielded phosgene
The chlorine atom of chlorobenzene is unreactive, and catalytic
processes 22 for replacing it by hydroxyl and amino groups had
22 Steam and silica gel to produce phenol from chlorobenzene, the Dow
process with steam and a copper salt catalyst, etc