Manufacture

Materials needed:

40ml of 30% H2O2

50ml of Acetone

30ml of 32% HCl

10gm Sodium Bicarbonate

Distilled water

Note: I found the H2O2 at an online pharmacy. My HCl is Hiltons “Spirits of Salt” drain opener. Sodium Bicarb is found at a pharmacy for stomach problems under the name of “Gimborn Zuiveringszout”.

Mix the acetone and the H2O2 and place it into your reaction vessel. Place the reaction vessel into an ice bad, and pour in the 30ml of 32% HCl (1-5ml at a time, because after each addition the temperature rises). 30ml should be enough after 25ml crystals start to form, I poured in the other 5ml for sure. After the addition of the HCl crystals start to form, let it stand for 30-60 minutes. (After 30 minutes I filtered off the crystals, but this wasn’t that much as with HMTD after 30 minutes, I have to let my AP reaction stand for about 45-60 min before most of the crystals are formed.)

Filter off the crystals and wash under tap water several times. Dissolve 10gm of Sodium Bicarbonate into 200ml of distilled water and mix it with the crystals, stir for about three minutes. Filter off the crystals again and let it dry for 24 hours. With the chemicals I used I get much better yields of HMTD than with the synthesis of AP.

Reaction:

3C₃H₆O + 3H₂O₂ ---> C₉H₁₈O₆ + 3H₂O

Sources:

- Chemical structure, properties and analysis calculated by ChemDraw Ultra, CambridgeSoft Corporation.

- Encyclopedia of Explosives And Related Items, PATR 2700, Basil T. Federoff, Vol. 1 page A41-A45

- Explosivstoffe, Rudolf Meyer, 5. überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage, Verlag Chemie, 1979, Basel. Page 3