Unraveling the Key Role of the Benzyl Group in the Synthesis of CL-20 Precursor HBIW.

ABSTRACT: As one of the most important energetic material molecules, hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20) can only be synthesized using an amine with a benzyl group. Moreover, the reaction mechanism remains unexplored and the special role of the benzyl group has not been revealed. To address these issues, we perform an extensive theoretical study to investigate the synthesis mechanism of CL-20 precursor HBIW by employing density functional theory. Our calculated results demonstrate that the benzyl group can reduce the energy of the intermediate and the energy barrier of the rate-determining step due to the π-π stack interaction between two benzene rings of the benzyl group. For the first time, we revealed that the reactions can produce 16 intermediates with different chiralities during the formatio

SUBMITTER: Shang F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9244930 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature