4 ms·

To be honest, I was kind of hoping this was another "Things I won't work with" post from Derek Lowe in which he makes a fun story about how they figured this ou

To be honest, I was kind of hoping this was another "Things I won't work with" post from Derek Lowe in which he makes a fun story about how they figured this out while explaining why he would never in a million years get near the resulting product. For those that haven't read his amusing posts: https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-work-dioxygen-difluoride https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-wor... https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-work-hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-wor...

Calamitous 3y ago
I love his work. It’s filled with these pithy little gems: > I'd call for all the chemists who've ever worked with a hexanitro compound to raise their hands, but that might be assuming too much about the limb-to-chemist ratio.
- Natsu 3y ago
  > Stabilized or not, I still won't get near it. For one thing, I'm a drug discovery chemist, and if you think a structure like this is going to be a drug, then you must be on some strong ones yourself.
- pavel_lishin 3y ago
  > It's a liquid with a boiling point of around 80 C, and I'd like to shake the hand of whoever determined that property, assuming he has one left.
bryanlarsen 3y ago
If you like this sort of stuff, I recommend John Drury Clark's Ignition!: An informal history of liquid rocket propellants. Here's a quote about FOOF, which is your second link: “It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals-steel, copper, aluminium, etc.-because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminium keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.”
- ArchOversight 3y ago
  Thank you! Adding that to my reading list!

Calamitous 3y ago

I love his work. It’s filled with these pithy little gems: > I'd call for all the chemists who've ever worked with a hexanitro compound to raise their hands, but that might be assuming too much about the limb-to-chemist ratio.

Natsu 3y ago
> Stabilized or not, I still won't get near it. For one thing, I'm a drug discovery chemist, and if you think a structure like this is going to be a drug, then you must be on some strong ones yourself.
pavel_lishin 3y ago
> It's a liquid with a boiling point of around 80 C, and I'd like to shake the hand of whoever determined that property, assuming he has one left.

bryanlarsen 3y ago

If you like this sort of stuff, I recommend John Drury Clark's Ignition!: An informal history of liquid rocket propellants. Here's a quote about FOOF, which is your second link: “It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals-steel, copper, aluminium, etc.-because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminium keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.”

ArchOversight 3y ago
Thank you! Adding that to my reading list!