2,4,6-Trinitroaniline, C₆H₄N₄O₆, abbreviated as TNA and also known as picramide, a nitrated

amine In chemistry, amines (, ) are organic compounds that contain carbon-nitrogen bonds. Amines are formed when one or more hydrogen atoms in ammonia are replaced by alkyl or aryl groups. The nitrogen atom in an amine possesses a lone pair of elec ...

. Materials in this group range from slight to strong

oxidizing agents An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ''electron donor''). In ot ...

. If mixed with

reducing agents In chemistry, a reducing agent (also known as a reductant, reducer, or electron donor) is a chemical species that "donates" an electron to an (called the , , , or ). Examples of substances that are common reducing agents include hydrogen, carbon ...

, including

hydride In chemistry, a hydride is formally the anion of hydrogen (H−), a hydrogen ion with two electrons. In modern usage, this is typically only used for ionic bonds, but it is sometimes (and has been more frequently in the past) applied to all che ...

sulfide Sulfide (also sulphide in British English) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to large families o ...

s and

nitride In chemistry, a nitride is a chemical compound of nitrogen. Nitrides can be inorganic or organic, ionic or covalent. The nitride anion, N3−, is very elusive but compounds of nitride are numerous, although rarely naturally occurring. Some nitr ...

s, they may begin a vigorous reaction that culminates in a detonation. The aromatic nitro compounds may explode in the presence of a base such as

sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly corrosive base (chemistry), ...

potassium hydroxide Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula K OH, and is commonly called caustic potash. Along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), KOH is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications, most of which utili ...

even in the presence of water or organic solvents. The explosive tendencies of aromatic nitro compounds are increased by the presence of multiple nitro groups. The appearance of trinitroaniline varies from yellow to orange to red depending on its purity and concentration.

Applications

Trinitroaniline is only used in modern times in the small warheads of some explosive devices such as

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it was used by

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

as Type 97 ''bakuyaku'' (Model 1931 explosive) in some versions of gun

projectile A projectile is an object that is propelled by the application of an external force and then moves freely under the influence of gravity and air resistance. Although any objects in motion through space are projectiles, they are commonly found ...

s instead of less stable burster ''schimose'' (

picric acid Picric acid is an organic compound with the formula (O2N)3C6H2OH. Its IUPAC name is 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP). The name "picric" comes from (''pikros''), meaning "bitter", due to its bitter taste. It is one of the most acidic phenols. Like ot ...

). It was also used in the Yokosuka MXY-7

Ohka The Yokosuka MXY-7 is a purpose-built, rocket-powered human-guided ''kamikaze'' attack-aircraft deployed by Japan against Allied ships in the Pacific Ocean theater toward the end of World War II. Although extremely fast, the ''Ohka'' had a ...

, a

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

antishipping human-guided rocket aircraft.

Health and safety

Trinitroaniline is dangerously explosive and also hepatoxic. Symptoms of exposure to this compound may include skin and eye irritation, headache, drowsiness, weakness,

cyanosis Cyanosis is the change of Tissue (biology), tissue color to a bluish-purple hue, as a result of decrease in the amount of oxygen bound to the hemoglobin in the red blood cells of the capillary bed. Cyanosis is apparent usually in the Tissue (bi ...

, and respiratory distress.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trinitroaniline, 2,4,6- Anilines Nitrobenzene derivatives Explosive chemicals

Applications

Health and safety

See also

References