Pentazadiene: a high-nitrogen linkage in energetic materials

Abstract

A novel N₅-linear energetic moiety of pentazadiene has been constructed for the first time from a triazene precursor. Thus, a series of 1,3,5-tri(tetrazol-5-yl)pentaza-1,4-dienes have been synthesized in moderate to high yields by treatment of 1,3-bis(tetr-azol-5-yl)triazenes with 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDCI) under mild conditions. All compounds were fully characterized using IR spectroscopy, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, HRMS, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and, in the case of 1,3,5-tri(2-methyltetrazol-5-yl)pentaza-1,4-diene (2a) together with single crystal X-ray structuring and ¹⁵N NMR spectroscopy. Calculations predict that 2a has a heat of formation of 1699.2 kJ mol⁻¹.