IgnorantlyIntelligent - 26-10-2003 at 10:13
Has anyone ever nitrated petrolium jelly? What would the chemical structure look like?
Petrolium jelly is used for Vasoline.
I have read about Nitropetrolium made from nitrated gasoline but thats all.
Im very interested in this because of all the benefits it may have.
Nitrating should be similar to that of NG (very easy) and one pound of vasoline (100% petrolium jelly) is not only easy to get but cheap as dirt.
Almost anything(not really but it seems like it) can be nitrated. Ive heard of sugar, sugar substatutes, glycerin, cotton, starch,gasoline,...I could
go one forever but you get the point. I think this new explosive deserves a chance.
I say "new explosive" because I have-in many years of experiance-never heard of this being done.
[Edited on 26-10-2003 by IgnorantlyIntelligent]
[Edited on 27-10-2003 by IgnorantlyIntelligent]
[Edited on 27-10-2003 by IgnorantlyIntelligent]
Nevermore - 26-10-2003 at 10:18
if i remember good vaseline is mainly paraffin and paraffin oil..
sombody should try it
Mr.O-Nitrate - 26-10-2003 at 11:23
Sombody should try it. 
I wonder how it would deflagrate?
Nevermore - 26-10-2003 at 11:26
mr o nitrate i got some messages from you on aim a few days ago but i didn't notice much. did you fix the problem?
I think that nitrating paraffin would be a pain..
IgnorantlyIntelligent - 26-10-2003 at 19:48
No, all vasoline I've ever seen has been 100% petrolium jelly.
People always talk about ways to make an explosive into a "putty", well hopefully, nitrated petrolium jelly wouldnt need anything added to
it to make it a "putty". I think it will keep its texture like NG does.
Another good thing is price, although no on here would ever make explosives 
, one
pound of petrolium jelly would cost only about $4.
plus the costs of acid(s) and a nitrate if needed.
I think nitrating petrolium jelly would be very similar to glycerin except its alot thicker and wouldnt be soluable in the acid/nitrate solution (but
hopefully Im wrong).
Well I'm off to go get some vasoline and more acid(I ran out yesterday)
I'll post results as soon as possible.
Nevermore
Mr.O-Nitrate - 26-10-2003 at 20:02
Oh, shoot, I forgot what I sent to you that day 
but I probably figured it out.
Hey is Nitrocellulose a good explosive to start out with?
( I have already made Blackpowder, sucrose rockets, firecrackers,shells, and other pyrotechnics)
IgnorantlyIntelligent - 27-10-2003 at 06:17
This is a forum for the discussion of energetic materials, not a chat room.
Try to stay on topic please......
Nevermore - 27-10-2003 at 07:15
i guess that petroleum jelly would give a completely different product than glicerine, being glicerine much more simple than the petroleum products
that you can find in the jelly.
BTW over here paraffin oil is called petroleum oil...
and paraffin is called petrol wax..
so check carefully =)
froot - 27-10-2003 at 08:15
I had a half hearted go at nitrating petroleum jelly. Conc. HNO3 in a ice bath, dropped in the jelly in small amounts. A thin brown film forms on the
surface. after extraction it deflagrates slowly, but it was still a little wet. The yield was awefull. After briefly searching the net (http://www.techno-preneur.net/timeis/westbengal/INVOPP/PETRO...) I've found that the stuff is a mixture of different compounds rather than
one solitary chemical. This may make nitration to form one desired compound fairly pointless.
Nevermore - 27-10-2003 at 11:17
pretty similar to nitrated sugar, you don't get a clear compount but a mixture of nitro esters. Unfortunately the low nitrated ones will be
parasiting the reaction and the detonation later..
i am not sure but maybe there are ways to bring the low nitrated esters to an higher nitration, or maybe is possible to separate them from the lower
ones by some solvents..
IgnorantlyIntelligent - 27-10-2003 at 17:08
That is a very good point about it being a mixture of many ingrediants instead of one basic compound.
Maybe it is pointless......
a123x - 28-10-2003 at 14:14
Just so you all know, nitrated vaseline wouldn't be a nitric ester since vaseline conists only of carbon and hydrogen and thus has no OH groups
to be nitrated. If vaseline is nitratable it would be a nitro compound, I suppose it would be considered a nitro-aliphatic.
IgnorantlyIntelligent - 29-10-2003 at 13:40
vasoline is 100% petrolium, and I have read that nitratred petrolium can be made with conc. nitric and sulfuric acid quite easily. However, the
synthesis used gasoline not vasoline. the yeilds were very poor which is why I suggested using 100% petrolium.
Go to megalomanias website and look for nitarted petrolium, maybe I just read it wrong.
Hermes_Trismegistus - 29-11-2003 at 02:39
How difficult would adding that OH group really be exactly....?
and would'nt that most likely thicken the already gooey consistency towards a more ideal form (for the orig poster)?
unionised - 29-11-2003 at 07:23
It would be posible to add the OH, but it would be tricky. (chlorination then hydrolysis looks the obvious route to me, but I'm sure there are
others).
It makes more sense to start with something that already has the OH groups to begin with.
(Reminds me of joke with old yokel saying "If I wanted to get there, I wouldn't start from here)