Recent advances in the study of the initiation of nitramines by impact using their ¹⁵N NMR chemical shifts

The relationship between the ¹⁵N NMR chemical shifts of aza nitrogen atoms in twelve nitramines and the impact sensitivity of these compounds, expressed as the drop energy, E_dr, has been analyzed from the point of view of recently published findings. This relationship appears to be the best method for identifying the key atoms at the reaction centre of a given molecule. These atoms might be taken as "chemical hot spots". The absence of any solid state influence on the chemical shifts, which were here determined in solution, does not have a fundamental influence on the reaction centre identification. The relationship discussed here confirms the close molecular structural dependence for drop energies (impact sensitivities) obtained for individual energetic materials (EMs) by means of a standard impact tester (Julius Peters) with the detection of the 50% probability of initiation based on acoustic detection. The dependence of impact sensitivity on specific crystal surfaces, using samples of individual EMs obtained by screening, should be investigated more extensively.