A phlegmatizer is a compound that minimizes the explosive tendency of another compound or material. The term is derived from the word
phlegmatic, meaning 'not easily excited'. Many chemical compounds that are potentially explosive have useful non-explosive applications. One large family of phlegmatizers are
phthalate esters, which are used as solvents to minimize the explosive tendency of
organic peroxide
In organic chemistry, organic peroxides are organic compounds containing the peroxide functional group (). If the R′ is hydrogen, the compounds are called hydroperoxides, which are discussed in that article. The O−O bond of peroxides easily b ...
s, such as
dibenzoyl peroxide
Benzoyl peroxide is a chemical compound (specifically, an organic peroxide) with structural formula , often abbreviated as (BzO)2. In terms of its structure, the molecule can be described as two benzoyl (, Bz) groups connected by a peroxide ( ...
and
MEKP, which are widely used initiators for
polymerization
In polymer chemistry, polymerization (American English), or polymerisation (British English), is a process of reacting monomer molecules together in a chemical reaction to form polymer chains or three-dimensional networks. There are many fo ...
s.
References
Liquid explosives
Organic peroxide explosives
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