2,3,4,6-tetranitroaniline

     2,3,4,6-tetranitroaniline, sometimes called TetNA or TeNA, is a shock and heat sensitive primary explosive. Tetranitroaniline has been used as an explosive in detonators and in primers. It is slightly hygroscopic and is unstable when moist, so it should be protected from moisture. Tetranitroaniline is also rather toxic. Tetranitroaniline is often used as the precursor in the preparation of the explosive ADNBF. Tetranitroaniline was first prepared in 1904 and was developed into a useful explosive shortly thereafter in such diverse items as det cord, projectiles, bombs, mines, and torpedoes. The Germans used it extensively during WWII to stretch their thinning supply of TNT. Unfortunately its wide scale commercial use is hampered by the fact it is unstable when moist.

CHEMICALS	APPARATUS
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     Into a large round-bottomed flask prepare a mixture of 107 g of 3-nitroaniline and 1000 mL of concentrated (>96%) sulfuric acid. Heat the mixture to 60 C and remove the heat source. Very slowly add, dropwise, 190 mL of 100% nitric acid. The rate of acid addition is done at such a rate as to keep the temperature between 62 and 68 C. An external cooling bath may help. After the addition is complete stir the mixture for 20 minutes with no heating or cooling. An ice bath is now used to quickly drop the temperature to 40 C. The mixture is poured over a fritted glass filter to collect the precipitated product. The crystals are washed with 50% sulfuric acid, then with water, and they are left to dry on the disk. Yield is about 157 g or 74% of damp tetranitroaniline.

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