New Strategy for Enhancing Energetic Properties by Regulating Trifuroxan Configuration: 3,4-Bis(3-nitrofuroxan-4-yl)furoxan

It is of current development to construct high–performance energetic compounds by aggregation of energetic groups with dense arrangement. In this study, a hydrogen-free high-density energetic 3,4-bis(3-nitrofuroxan-4-yl)furoxan (BNTFO-I) was designed and synthesized in a simple, and straightforward manner. Its isomer, 3,4-bis(4-nitrofuroxan-3-yl)furoxan (BNTFO-IV), was also obtained by isomerization. The structures of BNTFO-I and BNTFO-IV were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray analysis for the first time. Surprisingly, BNTFO-I has a remarkable calculated crystal density of 1983 g cm−3 at 296 K, which is distinctly higher than BNTFO-IV (1.936 g cm−3, 296 K), and ranks highest among azole-based CNO compounds yet reported. It is noteworthy that BNTFO-I exhibits excellent calculated detonation properties (vD, 9867 m s−1, P, 45.0 GPa). The interesting configuration differences of BNTFO-I and BNTFO-IV provide insight into the design of new advanced energetic materials.