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Octanitrocubane (molecular formula: C8(NO2)8) is a
A proposed path to synthesis is the cyclotetramerization of the as yet undiscovered and presumably highly unstable dinitroacetylene.
American Chemical Society lauds difficult synthesis of new compound (by Philip Eaton), March 20, 2001
high explosive
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ...
that, like TNT, is shock-insensitive (not readily detonate
Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves with ...
d by shock). The octanitrocubane molecule has the same chemical structure
A chemical structure determination includes a chemist's specifying the molecular geometry and, when feasible and necessary, the electronic structure of the target molecule or other solid. Molecular geometry refers to the spatial arrangement of ...
as cubane (C8H8) except that each of the eight hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-to ...
atoms is replaced by a nitro group (NO2).
It is however not as powerful an explosive as once thought, as the high-density theoretical crystal structure has not been achieved. For this reason heptanitrocubane, the slightly less nitrated form is believed to have marginally better performance, despite having a worse oxygen balance.
Octanitrocubane is thought to have 20–25% greater performance than HMX
HMX, also called octogen, is a powerful and relatively insensitive nitroamine high explosive, chemically related to RDX. Like RDX, the compound's name is the subject of much speculation, having been variously listed as High Melting Explosive, Her ...
(octogen). This increase in power is due to its highly expansive breakdown into CO2 and N2, as well as to the presence of strained chemical bonds in the molecule which have stored potential energy
In physics, potential energy is the energy held by an object because of its position relative to other objects, stresses within itself, its electric charge, or other factors.
Common types of potential energy include the gravitational potenti ...
. In addition, it produces no water vapor upon combustion, making it less visible, and both the chemical itself and its decomposition products (nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
and carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...
) are considered to be non-toxic.
Octanitrocubane was first synthesized by Philip Eaton
Philip E. Eaton (born 1936) is a Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. He and his fellow researchers were the first to synthesize the "impossible" cubane molecule in 1964.P. Eaton and T. W. Cole, The Cubane System, J. Am. ...
(who was also the first to synthesize cubane in 1964) and Mao-Xi Zhang at the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
in 1999, with the structure proven by crystallographer Richard Gilardi of the United States Naval Research Laboratory
The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...
. Not enough has been synthesized, though, for performance testing as an explosive.
Octanitrocubane has a detonation velocity
Explosive velocity, also known as detonation velocity or velocity of detonation (VoD), is the velocity at which the shock wave front travels through a detonated explosive. Explosive velocities are always faster than the local speed of sound in t ...
of 10,100 m/s, making it the fastest known explosive. Its R.E. factor is 2.38, making it the most effective chemical explosive known.
Synthesis
Although octanitrocubane is predicted to be one of the most effective explosives, the difficulty of its synthesis inhibits practical use. Philip Eaton's synthesis was difficult and lengthy, and required cubane (rare enough to begin with) as a starting point. As a result, octanitrocubane is more valuable, gram for gram, thangold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
.
A proposed path to synthesis is the cyclotetramerization of the as yet undiscovered and presumably highly unstable dinitroacetylene.
See also
* Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane * 4,4′-Dinitro-3,3′-diazenofuroxan *RE factor
TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. The is a unit of energy defined by that convention to be , which is the approximate energy released in the detonation of a ...
References
External links
American Chemical Society lauds difficult synthesis of new compound (by Philip Eaton), March 20, 2001
Notes
{{reflist, group=note Explosive chemicals Nitro compounds Substances discovered in the 1990s