Theoretical study of energetic carbon-oxidized triazole and tetrazole derivatives

Abstract

We investigated the heat of formation, density, thermal stability, and detonation properties of a series of carbon-oxidized triazole and tetrazole derivatives substituted by –NH2 and –NO2 groups using density functional theory. It is found that their properties are associated with the numbers of substituents and substitution positions in the parent ring. The results show that the –NO2 group is an effective structural unit for enhancing their detonation performance. It also indicates that the substitution positions play a very important role in increasing the heat of formation values of the derivatives. An analysis of impact sensitivity (h50) indicates that incorporating the –NH2 groups into the parent ring increases their thermal stability. Considering the detonation performance and thermal stability, seven of the designed compounds may be regarded as potential high-energy compounds. These results provide basic information for the molecular design of novel high-energy compounds.