With the development of synthetic methodology and crystallography
of energetic materials, regiochemistry is becoming popular and vital
in the design of versatile energetic compounds as well as in the thorough
research on the relationship between structure and property. In this
study, two regioisomeric bicyclic energetic compounds based on pyrazole
and polynitrobenzene were synthesized simultaneously by a simple synthetic
route, and the regioisomers could be purified by a facile approach.
It is interesting to note that the ratio of the two compounds changed
with temperature. From 80 to 110 °C, the proportion of compound 2 gradually enhanced with the increase in temperature. In
addition, the nitramine product of compound 1 was also
synthesized. The structural data of compounds 1, 2, and 3 were confirmed by X-ray single-crystal
diffraction. The detonation velocities of the new compounds are in
the range of 8436–8788 m s–1 and impact sensitivities
are between 15 and 27.5 J, of which compounds 2 and 3 not only present superior sensitivities to those of the
classical high-energy explosive RDX (7.5 J) but also exhibit comparable
detonation velocities to the measured RDX powder (V
D = 8796 m s–1), calculated by EXPLO5
as 8788 and 8526 m s–1, respectively. Moreover,
compounds 1 and 2 show good thermal stability
with decomposition temperatures up to 263 and 287 °C, which is
higher than that of RDX (T
dec: 204 °C).
All of the above information indicates that these compounds are high-energy,
low-sensitivity energetic materials featuring prospective applications.