A Safe Scalable Process for Synthesis of 4,6-Bis(nitroimino)-1,3,5-triazinan-2-one (DNAM)

A modified and safe nitration process for production of 4,6-bis(nitroimino)-1,3,5-triazinan-2-one (DNAM), a high density high energy material, from melamine is described. Key to our strategy is to generate acetyl nitrate at 30–35 °C in the presence of the reactant melamine. The main advantage of our procedure is that it utilized a homogeneous reagent and a homogeneous reactant solution. This allowed control of the reaction exotherm much easier. The robustness of this process is successfully demonstrated by producing DNAM in multikilogram quantities using a 20 L reactor.