Premium
An Optimized & Scaled‐Up Synthetic Procedure for Trinitroethyl Formate TNEF
Author(s) -
Dosch Dominik E.,
Andrade Karen,
Klapötke Thomas M.,
Krumm Burkhard
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
propellants, explosives, pyrotechnics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.56
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1521-4087
pISSN - 0721-3115
DOI - 10.1002/prep.202000323
Subject(s) - propellant , composite number , compatibility (geochemistry) , formate , process engineering , materials science , scale up , chemistry , computer science , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , engineering , composite material , catalysis , physics , classical mechanics
Previous reports showed, that tris(2,2,2‐trinitroethoxy)methane, also known as tris(2,2,2‐trinitroethyl) orthoformate or trinitroethyl formate (TNEF), exhibits a very high potential for application due to its excellent energetic properties and compatibility with state of the art binder systems for composite propellants. However, TNEF was never produced on a scale exceeding a few grams. In this work, a scaled and optimized synthetic procedure for the manufacturing of elemental analysis pure TNEF in a 100 g pre‐technical scale is described. Applied optimizations focus on cost of the synthesis and improvements regarding a greener purification process. Acceptable yields were achieved in the 100 g scale and the described synthetic procedure could be easily applied in the technical scale in the next step. This could stimulate a broader application of TNEF as an environmentally benign high energy density oxidizer for composite propellants.