(336b) Kinetic Analysis for Synthesizing TATB: 18-Crown-6 Catalyzed Amination of 1, 3, 5-Triethoxy-2, 4, 6-Trinitrobezene with Ammonia Water

1, 3, 5-triamino-2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzene, commonly known as TATB, is an attractive insensitive high explosive (IHE). In order to ameliorate the reaction conditions for the synthesis of TATB, this work studied the non-pressurized liquid phase amination of 1, 3, 5-Triethoxy-2, 4, 6-Trinitrobezene (TETNB) with ammonia water using 18-crown-6 (18-C-6) as catalyst in dimethylbenzene. The key component to conduct the substitution reaction is the catalytic intermediate generated from ammonium hydroxide reacted with 18-C-6. The concentration of catalytic intermediate remained nearly constant after the induction period and increased with the increase of the amount of catalyst employed. The reaction between catalytic intermediate and organic reactant is identified as the controlling step. Factors affecting the formation of the catalytic intermediate include speed of agitation, temperature and the relative amounts of catalyst, ammonia water and TETNB. The product yield above 98% was achieved within 2 h at 40^◦C by using 18-C-6 as the catalyst. A kinetic model was developed for the liquid–liquid reaction. The concluded models accurately predict the amination reaction kinetics and can be used in simulation and design of reactive processes for the production of TATB.