Hexanitroethane

The first synthesis was described by Wilhelm Will in 1914, using the reaction between the potassium salt of tetranitroethane with nitric acid. :C2(NO2)4K2 + 4 HNO3 → C2(NO2)6 + 2 KNO3 + 2 H2O A practicable method for industrial use starts with furfural, which first undergoes oxidative ring-opening by bromine to mucobromic acid. In the following step, mucobromic acid is reacted with potassium nitrite at just below room temperature to form the dipotassium salt of 2,3,3-trinitropropanal. The final product is obtained by nitration with nitric acid and sulfuric acid at −60 °C. : == Properties ==

The thermal decomposition of hexanitroethane has been detected at 60 °C upwards in both the solid and solution phases. Above 140 °C, this can occur explosively. The decomposition is first order and is significantly faster in solution than in the solid. For the solid, the following reaction can be formulated: : ==References==