Novel Uncatalyzed Synthesis and Characterization of Diacetone Diperoxide

Abstract

A novel method used to synthesize diacetone diperoxide (DADP) from acetone and hydrogen peroxide without the presence of a catalytic agent is presented. Previously reported syntheses used toluenesulfonic and m‐sulfonic acid as catalyst. DADP was prepared with a purity of 99.99 %. The melting point range (128.5–134.5 °C) is consistent with reported values. The success of the reported procedure depends on controlling the ratio between acetone and hydrogen peroxide as well as the temperature of the reaction mixture. The purified crystalline DADP samples were characterized using NMR, Raman, and IR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, gas chromatography and open atmosphere chemical ionization mass spectrometry (DART™). The structure was compared to the well‐known cyclic trimer triacetone triperoxide (TATP). The proposed synthetic scheme can be useful for preparing small amounts of the cyclic organic peroxide for characterization and fundamental studies and for formulation of gas chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry standards.

An Easy Method to Prepare D3 and C2‐TATP Crystals

“…With regards to the possibility of interconversion and isolation of these structures at the temperatures reported, Haroune and Widmer et al reported interconversion between D 3 and C 2 ‐TATP at room temperature . Denekamp et al showed theoretical and experimental evidence that both conformer are kinetically stable and separable at room temperature ; hence, it is possible to obtain neat crystals of both conformers through the method reported in this manuscript.…”

“…On the other hand, a DSC analysis of a mixture showed two resolved peaks for each conformer (see Figure ). Another important finding is that all reported melting points of TATP varied widely from 88 °C to 91 °C indicating that they are melting point of mixtures of both conformers .…”

“…The MEP clearly showed the similarity of the methyl tails in the D 3 ‐TATP and C 2 ‐TATP structures (see Figure a–c). Taking into account the spatial location of the methyl groups, the C−H stretching bands should not be significantly affected by ring configurations . The conformer structures were previously optimized at B3LYP/6‐311g++ (d, p) basis set .…”

Peroxide Based Organic Explosives

“…A novel method used to synthesize diacetone diperoxide (DADP) from acetone and hydrogen peroxide without the presence of a catalytic agent has been reported [25]. Previously reported syntheses used toluenesulfonic and m-sulfonic acid as catalyst.…”

Direct Detection of Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) in Real Banknotes from ATM Explosion by EASI‐MS

“…A set of these ambient ionization techniques, desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) , direct analysis in real time (DART) and extractive electrospray ionization EESI have been used to study TATP and DADP explosives on different surfaces. The application of DESI , , DART , , and EESI , sources for explosive detection showed direct in‐situ identification of trace amounts of TATP on a wide variety of surfaces and various complex matrices. They provide nanogram level detection limits, allowing rapid and accurate determination of peroxide explosives in contrast with other chromatography based methods coupled to mass spectrometric detection.…”