trinitrotoluene
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Mannitol Hexanitrate
Does anyone have information on the properties of mannitol hexanitrate, and ways of prepering it. I done some searching and only source I can refer to
is Mr. Cool's site, and Megolmania's.
[Edited on 13-4-2003 by trinitrotoluene]
TNT
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Madog
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mannitol hexanitrate is about equal in power and sensitiveity to NG. its got a high VoD even when it was tested in very small diameter tubes. ive
heard that mannitol is available as a baby laxitive. i would really love some.
Most people outgrow their pyro tendencies, we are the ones who\'s tendencies outgrew us.
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Nick F
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All the explosive characteristics of NG, but in a solid. Max VoD can be achieved even in tubes of a few mm ID, with minimal confinement, as Madog
said. VoD >8000 m/s under ideal conditions. More sensitive than PETN, and just as powerful. Not quite as stable at elevated temperatures, but
stability is good enough at room temperature.
Yield when using 95% HNO3 and 98% H2SO4 is very high, >20g of MHN from 10g of mannitol, and the acid requiremnts are modest. When using 70% HNO3 or
KNO3 and H2SO4, normally about 1g of MHN is made per g of mannitol used.
It crystalises in needles, often several mm long, from hot alcohol. It is soluble in acetone, but I wouldn't recommend using this as a solvent as
it can cause troubles when you try to crystalise it.
The best way to get mannitol is from companies that manufacture sweeteners, samples can be had...
Erythrite is more common as a sweetener. That's glycerol with an extra CHOH unit in it. Its tetranitrate is a solid HE with several advantages
over MHN. It is a shorter chain, thus will be more stable at higher temperatures, erythrite is easier to find than mannitol, and the tetranitrate
melts at around 60*C, so it can be easily and safely cast into containers to give a uniform, consistent high density using hot water.
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Madog
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cool, that sounds very good. speaking of nitrateing sweetners i think im going to nitrate some sucralose(splenda) it is tetrachlorosucrose. so if i
nitrate it it will make an explosive that releases Cl2 on detonation. i think im gona do this today.
Most people outgrow their pyro tendencies, we are the ones who\'s tendencies outgrew us.
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chemoleo
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Preparation of Mannitol Hexanitrate
Preparation of Nitromannite.
Fifty grams of nitric acid (specific
gravity 1.51) is cooled thoroughly in a 300-cc. Erlenmeyer pyrex flask immersed in a freezing mixture of ice and salt. Ten grams of mannite is then
introduced in small portions at a time while the flask is tilted from side to side and the contents is stirred gently with a thermometer, care being
taken that the temperature does not rise above 0°. After all is dissolved, 100 grams of sulfuric acid (specific gravity 1.84) is added slowly from a
dropping funnel while the liquid is stirred and the temperature is maintained below 0°. The porridge-like mass is filtered on a sinter-glass filter,
or on a Buchner funnel with a hardened filter paper, washed with water, then with dilute sodium bicarbonate solution, then finally again with water.
The crude product is dissolved in boiling alcohol; the solution is filtered if need be, and on cooling deposits white needle crystals of nitromannite,
m.p. 112-113°. A second crop of crystals may be obtained by warming the alcoholic mother liquors to boiling, adding water while still boiling until a
turbidity appears, and allowing to cool. Total yield about 23 grams.
MHN is soluble in hot alcohol and ether, only sparingly soluble in cold alcohol, and insoluble in water.
Its stability at ordinary temperatures is good, thus it is used for commercial/military applications. However, while NG is stable at 75 deg many
days, MHN decomposes (non-violently) after several hours.
Larger samples deflagrate at 160-170 Deg C. It is not fired by the spit of a fuse, but a match flame will do the job due to local overheating. It is
almost, but not quite, a primary explosive.
MHN is about as shock and friction-sensitive as NG, with a 4cm drop of a 2kg weight achieving detonation. (Note tho, as MHN is a solid, you dont have
the danger of liquid sloshing about, creating hot-spots of rapid deceleration (shock) on the container walls).
It has a VOD of 8260 m/s, @ 1.73 g/cm^3, in a 12.8 mm tube.
Recently got some mannitol, guess what I will be trying 
PS info taken from COPAE
[Edited on 18-11-2003 by chemoleo]
Never Stop to Begin, and Never Begin to Stop...
Tolerance is good. But not with the intolerant! (Wilhelm Busch)
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Gargamel
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I hope nobody minds that I give this old tread a little bump.
I just figured that this material might be suited for NEPDs, likely better then ETN.
Since I dont have a distillery, does anybody have some experience if the hexanitrate will form with 65% HNO3?
I don't care about yields, I would use it only for caps anyway.
Is it possible to separate it from the lower nitrates just by washing, is the difference in solubility between penta- or tetranitrate sufficient?
And how about storage?
I have well recrystalised ETN that is 3 years old and does not show signs of decomposition.
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Ral123
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I see MHN great for microdetonators. It can be extra reliable combination with DS.
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Hennig Brand
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Recrystallization is necessary to remove lower nitrates and acidity. It won't be very storage stable if acid is not removed. It won't have the power
or initiate as easily, especially in small caps, if there is a high proportion of lower nitrates. Recrystallizes very easily from methanol, IIRC. A
hot water bath can be used, since methanol boils at about 65C. Crude crystals (solid) must be dissolved in order to release the impurities from
within.
I have only ever made it 2 or 3 times, but my impression was that more concentrated acids were needed to get the same results seen with an ETN
synthesis. It probably still could be made using 65% HNO3 though. It can be made just fine from nitrates and concentrated sulfuric acid. It will need
to be recrystallized of course, which is even more important when made from nitrates and hardware store acid, and it may not store as well as it would
if made from mixed acid.
"A risk-free world is a very dull world, one from which we are apt to learn little of consequence." -Geerat Vermeij
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markx
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I don't know if someone else has encountered the same with polyols: there is some kind of yellow orange colored byproduct(s) trapped in the nitrated
crude cristals. The crudes look totally white after filtering and neutralising, but the recristallisation solution becomes clearly colored when the
crude product is dissolving. With erythritol the coloration is a slight hint of yellow, but with mannitol the recristallisation solution turned a deep
orange. This colored byproduct remains in the solution and can be washed out from the cristal mass, but with mannitol it took some serious effort
(about 10 rinses opposed to 2 rinses with erythritol) to get rid of it. The remaining product was totally white and showed no discoloration when
dissolved in EtOH. All reagents were analytical grade, so it can't be a contamination...besides I've used different suppliers and still get the
characteristic discolorations.
Exact science is a figment of imagination.......
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Ral123
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This is not RDX, where a simple wash and evaporation of the HNO3 and it's fine for a year. I suppose double recrystalization must be enough for most
energetics?
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