Conditions which result in the formation of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) or diacetone diperoxide (DADP) from acetone and hydrogen peroxide (HP) have been studied for the purposes of inhibiting the reaction. Reaction of HP with acetone precipitates either DADP or TATP, but the overall yield and amount of each was found to depend on (1) reaction temperature; (2) the molar ratio of acid to HP/acetone; (3) initial concentrations of reactants, and (4) length of reaction. Controlling molar ratios and concentrations of starting materials was complicated because both sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide were aqueous solutions.Temperature exercised great control over the reaction outcome. Holding all molar concentrations constant and raising the temperature from 5 to 25°C showed an increase of DADP over TATP formation and a decrease in overall yield. At 25°C a good yield of TATP was obtained if the HP to acetone ratio was kept between 0.5-to-1 and 2-to-1. At constant temperature and HP-toacetone held at one-to-one ratio, acid-to-HP molar ratios between 0.10:1 and 1.2:1 produced good yield of TATP. Plotting the molality of HP versus that of sulfuric acid revealed regions in which relatively pure DADP or pure TATP could be obtained. In addition to varying reaction conditions, adulterants placed into acetone were tested to inhibit the formation of TATP. 2Because there is much speculation of the relative stability, sensitivity, including solvent wetting of crystals, and performance of DADP and TATP, standard tests (i.e. DSC, drop weight impact, and SSED) were performed.

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2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) is a molecular explosive that exhibits chemical stability in the molten phase at ambient pressure. A combination of visual, spectroscopic, and structural (x-ray diffraction) methods coupled to high pressure, resistively heated diamond anvil cells was used to determine the melt and decomposition boundaries to >15 GPa. The chemical stability of molten TNT was found to be limited, existing in a small domain of pressure-temperature conditions below 2 GPa. Decomposition dominates the phase diagram at high temperatures beyond 6 GPa. From the calculated bulk temperature rise, we conclude that it is unlikely that TNT melts on its principal Hugoniot.

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