The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives - Sciencemadness Dot Org

HEXANITRODIPHENYL SULFONE 187
pounds per square inch, density 1.56; at 15,000 pounds per square
inch, density 1.59; and at 20,000 pounds per square inch, density
1.60. The pellets which showed the best homogeneity and the
least tendency to crumble were those of density 1.56.
Hexanitrodiphenyl Sulfide
NO, NO,
•NO,
to* NO,
Hexanitrodiphenyl sulfide (picryl sulfide) is formed by the
interaction of picryl chloride and sodium thiosulfate in alcohol
solution in the presence of magnesium carbonate. 113 It is sparingly
soluble in alcohol and ether, more readily in glacial acetic acid
and acetone, golden-yellow leaflets from alcohol-acetone, m.p.
234°. It does not stain the fingers yellow and is said to be nonpoisonous.
Its explosive properties are comparable to those of
hexanitrodiphenylamine. Its use in reinforced detonators has
been suggested, and the fact that its explosion produces sulfur
dioxide has commended it 116 for use in projectiles intended to
make closed spaces, such as casemates, holds of ships, etc., untenable.
During the first World War the Germans used drop
bombs loaded with a mixture of equal parts of TNT and hexanitrodiphenyl
sulfide. 117
Hexanitrodiphenyl Sulfone
N ^~
NO2
NO,
NO, NO,
The action of nitric acid on hexanitrodiphenyl sulfide yields a
substance, faintly yellowish crystals, m.p. 307°, which Stettbacher
believes to be the sulfone, not the peroxide as the patent 118
states, for the reason that it is stable at elevated temperatures
115
Ger. Pat. 275,037 (1912); Brit. Pat. 18,353 (1913).
116
Brit. Pat. 18,354 (1913).
117
Alfred Stettbacher, "Die Schiesa- und Sprengstoffe," Leipzig, 1919,
p. 206.
118
Ger. Pat. 269,826 (1913).