DINGU

     DINGU, an acronym for dinitroglycoluril, is a stable high explosive compound. Other names for DINGU include tetrahydro-1,4-dinitro-imidazo[4,5-d]imidazole-2,5(1H,3H)-dione; 1,4-dinitroglycoluril; dinitroacetylenediurein; and DNGU. DINGU was first prepared in 1888 by the team of Franchimont and Klobbie. During WWII its explosive properties were evaluated and it was found to be less than desirable for military use. Although it is an insensitive explosive with power equal to that of TNT it is not thermally stable. DINGU exists in three isomers,: 1,3; 1,4; and 1,6. Of the three isomers the 1,3 version is unstable and the 1,4 is the main product of any synthesis. DINGU also finds a use in the preparation of the much more powerful and stable explosive TNGU.

CHEMICALS	APPARATUS
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     Dry a sample of glycoluril at 70 C in an oven. Slowly add, with stirring, 10 g of glycoluril to a beaker containing 100 mL of 100% nitric acid at room temperature. While stirring the mixture warm it to 55 C for 1 hour. Slowly pour the mixture into another beaker containing 200 mL of boiling water. The boiling water treatment will decompose the unstable 1,3-dinitroglycoluril isomer as evidenced by the evolution of gas. Cool the slurry in an ice bath to 0 C and filter to collect the precipitate of DINGU. Wash the precipitate with ice cold water until it is neutral to litmus, rinse it with ethyl alcohol, and allow it to dry. The final product is a mixture of 1,4 and 1,6 isomers.

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