DNHzF

melting point ? °C	boiling point ? °C	DNHzF	molecular mass ? g/mol	density ? g/mL
table key	sensitivity ?	chemical formula X₂Y₃Z₄	explosive velocity ? m/s	estimated cost $?.00 /g

DNHzF, an acronym for dinitrohydrazofurazan, is an insensitive, high density, high explosive compound. Another names for this explosive is 3,3’-dinitro-4,4'-hydrazofurazan and DNHF. Since the first synthesis of diaminofurazans in 1968 much work has been done to prepare other oxidized versions. DNHzF was first synthesized in 1981 by the Soviets as part of this research. There are a handful of explosive diaminofurazans including DAAzF, DNAzF, ANAF, DAHzF, DAAF, and of course DNHzF itself. Of these DNHzF seems to be quite promising for a variety of military high explosive formulations. The combination of being both thermally and shock insensitive as well as having a high oxygen balance makes DNHzF a very useful ingredient for rocket propellants and explosives.

CHEMICALS APPARATUS

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Prepare a suspension of 1.42 g of 3,3'-dinitro-4,4'-azofurazan and 0.78 g of zinc dust in 10 mL of methyl alcohol by stirring rapidly. Slowly add, with rapid stirring, 0.8 mL of glacial acetic acid dropwise. A vigorous will ensue bringing the temperature of the suspension to reflux. Stir the suspension for 2 hours after the acid has been added. Pour the suspension through a bed of Celite to remove any remaining zinc. The filtrate is concentrated in a rotary evaporator (or gently heated under vacuum aspiration) and eluted through a column of silica gel using a mixture of methylene chloride and ethyl acetate as the elutent. The solvent is removed to give pale yellow crystals of DNHzF. Final yield is about 1.5 g or 100%. The DNHzF can be purified by recrystallizing from chloroform/acetone.

Sources