The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives - Sciencemadness Dot Org

436 PRIMARY EXPLOSIVES, DETONATORS, AND PRIMERS
must be manufactured in such a way that they are effectively
sealed.
Kast and Haid have determined the temperatures at which
cyanuric triazide and certain other initiators explode spontaneously,
both by raising the temperature of the samples at a constant
rate and by keeping the samples at constant temperatures
and noting the times which elapsed before they exploded. When
no measurable time elapsed, the temperature was "the temperature
of instantaneous explosion." Their data are especially interesting
because they show the rate of deterioration of the materials
at various temperatures. 44
Trinitrotrlazidobenzene
l,3,5-Trinitro-2,4,6-triazidobenzene 45 is prepared from aniline
by the reactions indicated below.
T
Trlnitro*
trlazldobenzene
ci
Aniline is chlorinated to form trichloroanilinc. The amino group
is eliminated from this substance by means of the diazo reaction,
and the resulting sj/m-trichlorobenzene is nitrated. The nitration,
as described by Turek, is carried out by dissolving the material
in warm 32% oleum, adding strong nitric acid, and heating at
140-150° until no more trinitrotrichlorobenzene, m.p. 187°, precipitates
out. The chlorine atoms of this substance arc then
replaced by azido groups. This is accomplished by adding an
acetone solution of the trinitrotrichlorobenzene, or better, the
powdered substance alone, to an actively stirred solution of sodium
azide in moist alcohol. The precipitated trinitrotriazidobenzene
is filtered off, washed with alcohol and with water, and, after
drying, is sufficiently pure for technical purposes. It may be
45 Turek, Chimie et industrie, 26, 781 (1931); Ger. Pat. 498,050; Brit.
Pat. 298,981. Muraour, Mem. artillerie jrang., 18, 895 (1939).