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The chemical structure is the clue to the explosive potential. The N-N-N triad is a strange beast that shows up in a lot of explosive materials. They're explosi

by aazaa 5y ago

The chemical structure is the clue to the explosive potential. The N-N-N triad is a strange beast that shows up in a lot of explosive materials. They're explosive for similar reasons that ammonia nitrate is explosive. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23399-texas-disaster-what-links-fertilisers-and-explosions/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23399-texas-disaster-... Think of energy as a vertical scale increasing upward. Including a nitrogen triad (like in the drug) pushes the entire molecule up on the energy scale. It's like riding the elevator to the 42nd floor. In contrast, the N-N triple bond (i.e., atmospheric nitrogen) is way down at the ground floor. This is one reason that despite nitrogen being the most abundant gas in the earth's atmosphere, it requires large amounts of energy to process into fertilizers and other materials. CO2 and H2O also sit near ground level. So there's a large energy difference between the drug and the combustion products N2, CO2, and H2O. All it takes to release all of that stored energy is a trigger. For example, if someone were to push you off the top of the building, you would spontaneously release the stored energy. Hopefully you'd be equipped with an air braking device to dissipate it gradually, but if not - well, that energy will be released into your body and the pavement all at once.

jsbdk 5y ago
>The chemical structure is the clue to the explosive potential. The N-N-N triad is a strange beast that shows up in a lot of explosive materials. This makes me wonder - what properties of a substance can you infer from its structure without ever testing the substance itself?
- rcxdude 5y ago
  A chemist can usually make an educated guess on most of them based on similarity to other substances, but it's hard to be very accurate and there's still a lot of potential for surprises.
- aazaa 5y ago
  There are many. A simple example is solubility. Molecules with amines generally are soluble in acid. Molecules with carboxylic acid groups are usually soluble in base. Molecules with flexible hydrocarbon chains tend to be soluble in oils. Molecules with lots of polar groups tend to be soluble in water. Large, rigid molecules are rarely soluble in anything. Trained chemists can do this sort of thing with specialized properties (such as metabolic stability, brain penetrating ability, and oral bioavailability) as well, although success depends on specifics.

by aazaa 5y ago

jsbdk 5y ago

>The chemical structure is the clue to the explosive potential. The N-N-N triad is a strange beast that shows up in a lot of explosive materials. This makes me wonder - what properties of a substance can you infer from its structure without ever testing the substance itself?

rcxdude 5y ago
A chemist can usually make an educated guess on most of them based on similarity to other substances, but it's hard to be very accurate and there's still a lot of potential for surprises.
aazaa 5y ago
There are many. A simple example is solubility. Molecules with amines generally are soluble in acid. Molecules with carboxylic acid groups are usually soluble in base. Molecules with flexible hydrocarbon chains tend to be soluble in oils. Molecules with lots of polar groups tend to be soluble in water. Large, rigid molecules are rarely soluble in anything. Trained chemists can do this sort of thing with specialized properties (such as metabolic stability, brain penetrating ability, and oral bioavailability) as well, although success depends on specifics.