NALAS ENGINEERING SERVICES INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N141-017

Description

The treatment of glyoxal with benzyl amine or allyl amine towards the formation of the corresponding tetraazaisowurtzitane cage structure has established a cornerstone in the preparation of caged nitramines and has led to significant research aimed at converting these precursors into compounds of interest such as CL-20. Although a route based on benzyl amine was briefly employed in small commercial settings, severe problems have since forbid the use of this chemistry on large scale. An alternative route to CL-20 employing allyl amine as the ammonia surrogate has been developed and demonstrated by researchers at China Lake. Although these efforts have led to the validation of the chemistry at a lab scale, this sequence of reactions has shown potential to become commercially viable if given a thorough development and evaluation effort, which is the main focus of the proposed work.