Thunder in a Test Tube

The power of fire has awed, inspired, and terrified man since time immemorial. The secrets of the flame have traditionally been carefully guarded by the valiant warriors and bold experimenters of history. The science of chemistry garners no greater fascination than with demonstrations of fire and explosions. All great scientists begin by experimenting with the power of the flame, harnessing its ferocity, and nurturing the spark of curiosity to learn more about science. To see the flash, to smell the smoke, to feel the heat is to become transformed. Ignorance is consumed, immolated by the sensations of the flame, to be replaced by a burning to learn more about how to wield and control this flame.

Modern science has allowed the secrets of the flame to be denied to no one. The knowledge of what the flame is and how the flame works has been open to all in books, journals, patents, and other media for centuries. Until now. The ignorant and frightened see the greatest teaching tool of chemistry as evil and dangerous. Under the flimsy guise of terrorism the fedgov seeks to suppress the knowledge of explosives, take back the science and erase it from the minds and hearts of a generation of mankind.

In suppressing the knowledge of explosives the pathetic imbeciles have certainly destroyed our future. Before there can be progress in science, and in society, there must be scientists, and before there are scientists there must be the spark of curiosity. Dry tedious equations, mind numbing mathematics, useless ivory tower theory, and watered down chemical experiments inspire no one. An entire generation of future chemists will never exist because they have been denied the simple joy of witnessing the power of the flame. Their chemistry sets, what few who ever get one in this age, are useless and bland shadows of a former glorious era.

I will not allow this to happen. There must be danger, there must be excitement, and there must be passion to ignite the spark of scientific curiosity in the next generation. We face a dark world where all that could be dangerous is destroyed, and all who seek to learn are persecuted for what they might do. What may, what might, what could, the ignorant fear only dreams and vague possibilities, veiled threats, and hypothetical scenarios. Explosives harm very few people, and are the most important industrial tools in the world. Without explosives there would be no modern world.

The phantom specter of the mad bomber is the boogey man of the 21st century. Hollywood has shown us a man can build a bomb out of anything; this is a lie. The politicians perpetuate the lie to give their Gestapo thugs something to do, a witch to uncover and crucify. The truth is the science of explosives is a very intricate and complex aspect of chemistry, it is awe inspiring, but it is not something easily prepared from common household items. The threat from explosives only exists as Hollywood tricks, the lies of politicians, and soccer mom fantasies.

The path to becoming a scientist is best begun by understanding explosives. The spark can be nurtured and fanned into a raging inferno of inquisitiveness and fervor that will manifest as a career in the rewarding and productive field of science. But first the spark must be struck. An interest in science cannot be created by simple, safe, boring, commonplace experiments that demonstrate nothing more than a color change. Let there be fire, let there be fury, let the power of the flame burn away your apathy and ignorance and fill your soul with the thirst for knowledge.

The energetic materials section of the Chem Lab offers detailed laboratory methods of synthesis for more than 150 explosive compounds and propellants, with more being added each year. The chosen syntheses are representative of the most useful industrial and military compounds, a handful of propellants, and the occasional unusual specimen thrown in. There are a growing number of cutting edge compounds fresh from the research laboratories being included. I monitor certain chemistry journals to add these new compounds as I become aware of them and can track down valid references.

Specifically excluded are mixtures and compositions of explosives because this opens a very large door to an entirely different world of energetic materials. I try to strictly focus on the synthesis of unique chemical compounds, although I may occasionally include a popular composition. I do not include any information on the use of any energetic material because that too is beyond the scope of this website. I stick to the science of synthesis, not the technology of application.

Some energetic compounds encountered in the literature are novel explosives without established military or commercial usefulness. These compounds are typically of pharmaceutical or synthetic use to research groups, but just happen to be explosive in nature. These explosives do not warrant a full page of their own in the Chem Lab, but rather than discard the information completely, I have set aside a page for the synthesis of minor explosive compounds.

A note on naming conventions: The chemical names that comprise the titles for all energetic materials, precursors, pharmaceuticals, toxins, and other miscellaneous compounds are chosen somewhat arbitrarily. When possible I prefer to use a chemical’s acronym or common name rather than by formal IUPAC naming rules. This is similar to the naming conventions used by the publishers of the Dictionary of Organic Compounds and the Merck Index. I defer to the published literature when choosing names; whichever name is most commonly used I use. For rare and obscure compounds that have no common name or acronym I use the name from whichever reference I happen to read first that has synthesis information. Common names and acronyms are more recognizable by the lay public and scientists alike. I also prefer to use acronyms and common names for the very pragmatic reasons that it makes the resulting name of both the HTML file and the page title shorter. Shorter titles fit better within the limited margins of the document. IUPAC names are very cumbersome, and are used only sparingly as titles.

I have alphabetically arranged the chemical names according to the conventions typically used by chemists, not by a specific standard or rule. Chemical names containing numbers, symbols, and other stereochemical prefixes are not included in alphabetization, unless spelled out. Synonyms ending with 9CI refer to the 9th Collective Index chemical nomenclature rules, and are not part of the actual chemical name. The Collective Indexes are published by Chemical Abstracts and use certain nomenclature rules to assist in organizing and alphabetizing chemical substances. The last changes to the naming rules went into effect as of the 9th Collective Index, published from 1972-1976. All subsequent Collective Indexes still use the same naming rules, therefore many chemicals end in the 9CI suffix despite not actually being published in the 9th Collective Index. Chemicals ending in 6CI, 7CI, and 8CI refer to different naming conventions used in the appropriate Collective Index. While there are different nomenclature rules in the 6CI, 7CI, 8CI, and 9CI, that does not necessarily mean there are different names for a specific chemical. The first changes to CAS nomenclature since the 9th Collective Index has just been implemented in 2007. More information on the naming changes can be found at the CAS website (PDF document).

Because chemicals often have multiple synonyms created by centuries of different naming schemes, I have included all names in the index in plain font. Titled compounds are indicated as such by bold typeface. Chemical manufacturers frequently give their products catchy names, especially pharmaceutical companies, and scientists use different naming schemes depending on which rules they use, if they use the rules correctly to begin with. While the list of chemical synonyms is as comprehensive as possible, it is very likely there are additional names or alternative spellings of names for many of these chemicals. Besides the original reference materials, I consulted the Merck Index, ChemFinder.com, Dictionary of Organic Compounds, and Chemical Abstracts to find the synonyms of all chemicals whose synthesis is detailed on the Rogue Science website.