Detection of Impurities in Organic Peroxide Explosives from Precursor Chemicals

Andrew Partridge; Stewart Walker; David Armitt

doi:10.1071/CH09481

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Detection of Impurities in Organic Peroxide Explosives from Precursor Chemicals

Andrew Partridge ^A , Stewart Walker ^A and David Armitt ^B ^C

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Centre of Expertise in Energetic Materials, School of Chemistry, Physics and Earth Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.

^B Defence Science and Technology Organisation, PO Box 1500, Edinburgh, SA 5111, Australia.

^C Corresponding author. Email: david.armitt@dsto.defence.gov.au

Australian Journal of Chemistry 63(1) 30-37 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH09481
Submitted: 9 September 2009 Accepted: 4 November 2009 Published: 8 January 2010

Abstract

Previous analyses of organic peroxide explosives have focussed on identification of the explosive itself, and were performed using explosive samples synthesized from laboratory-grade precursors. In this work, analytical studies of precursors obtained from retail outlets identified compounds that could be carried over into the explosives as impurities during synthesis. Forensic and intelligence information may be gained by the identification of possible precursor impurities in explosive samples. This hypothesis was tested using triacetone triperoxide and hexamethylene triperoxide diamine prepared from domestically available off-the-shelf precursors. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis showed that compounds originating from such precursors could be detected in the organic peroxide samples at different stages in their purification. Furthermore, some compounds could also be detected in the residues of samples that had been subjected to thermal initiation.

Acknowledgements

Our appreciation goes to Professor Jimmie Oxley (University of Rhode Island) for providing a mass spectrum of HMTD. The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of Mark Fitzgerald and Mark Champion (DSTO) to this body of work. A.P. would also like to thank the Centre of Expertise in Energetic Materials for the provision of funding.

References

Detection of Impurities in Organic Peroxide Explosives from Precursor Chemicals

Abstract

Acknowledgements

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