Pushing the Limit of Oxygen Balance on a Benzofuroxan Framework: K 2 DNDP as an Extremely Dense and Thermally Stable Material as a Substitute for Lead Azide.

Because of environmental and health impacts, there is an ongoing necessity to develop sustainable primary explosives to replace existing lead-based analogues. Now we describe a potential primary explosive, dipotassium 4,6-dinitro-5,7-dioxidobenzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazole 1-oxide (K 2 DNDP), which exhibits an excellent thermal stability ( T dec = 281 °C), positive oxygen balance (+4.79%), and a calculated crystal density of ρ = 2.274 g cm -3 at 100 K. Its physicochemical properties concomitantly with its straightforward synthesis make it a potential replacement for lead-based initiators.