In organic chemistry, an alkyne is an unsaturated hydrocarbon containing at least one carbon—carbon triple bond. The simplest acyclic alkynes with only one triple bond and no other functional groups form a homologous series with the general chemical formula CnH2n-2. Alkynes are traditionally known as acetylenes, although the name acetylene also refers specifically to C2H2, known formally as ethyne using IUPAC nomenclature. Like other hydrocarbons, alkynes are generally hydrophobic.
An explosive is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An explosive charge is a measured quantity of explosive material, which may either be composed solely of one ingredient or be a mixture containing at least two substances.
Carbon compounds are defined as chemical substances containing carbon. More compounds of carbon exist than any other chemical element except for hydrogen. Organic carbon compounds are far more numerous than inorganic carbon compounds. In general bonds of carbon with other elements are covalent bonds. Carbon is tetravalent but carbon free radicals and carbenes occur as short-lived intermediates. Ions of carbon are carbocations and carbanions are also short-lived. An important carbon property is catenation as the ability to form long carbon chains and rings.
Mercury(II) fulminate, or Hg(CNO)2, is a primary explosive. It is highly sensitive to friction, heat and shock and is mainly used as a trigger for other explosives in percussion caps and detonators. Mercury(II) cyanate, though its chemical formula is identical, has a different atomic arrangement; the cyanate and fulminate anions are isomers.
A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common.
Chemistry is the physical science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions.
An elimination reaction is a type of organic reaction in which two substituents are removed from a molecule in either a one- or two-step mechanism. The one-step mechanism is known as the E2 reaction, and the two-step mechanism is known as the E1 reaction. The numbers refer not to the number of steps in the mechanism, but rather to the kinetics of the reaction: E2 is bimolecular (second-order) while E1 is unimolecular (first-order). In cases where the molecule is able to stabilize an anion but possesses a poor leaving group, a third type of reaction, E1CB, exists. Finally, the pyrolysis of xanthate and acetate esters proceed through an "internal" elimination mechanism, the Ei mechanism.
A centerfire cartridge is a firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located at the center of the base of its casing. Unlike rimfire cartridges, the centerfire primer is typically a separate component seated into a recessed cavity in the case head, and is replaceable by reloading.
Silver fulminate (AgCNO) is the highly explosive silver salt of fulminic acid.
Fulminic acid is an acid with the formula HCNO, more specifically H–C≡N+–O−. It is an isomer of isocyanic acid H–N=C=O and of its elusive tautomer cyanic acid H–O–C≡N, and also of isofulminic acid H–O–N+≡C−.
The Heck reaction is the chemical reaction of an unsaturated halide with an alkene in the presence of a base and a palladium catalyst to form a substituted alkene. It is named after Tsutomu Mizoroki and Richard F. Heck. Heck was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he shared with Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki, for the discovery and development of this reaction. This reaction was the first example of a carbon-carbon bond-forming reaction that followed a Pd(0)/Pd(II) catalytic cycle, the same catalytic cycle that is seen in other Pd(0)-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. The Heck reaction is a way to substitute alkenes.
In organic chemistry, Zaitsev's rule is an empirical rule for predicting the favored alkene product(s) in elimination reactions. While at the University of Kazan, Russian chemist Alexander Zaitsev studied a variety of different elimination reactions and observed a general trend in the resulting alkenes. Based on this trend, Zaitsev proposed that the alkene formed in greatest amount is that which corresponded to removal of the hydrogen from the alpha-carbon having the fewest hydrogen substituents. For example, when 2-iodobutane is treated with alcoholic potassium hydroxide (KOH), 2-butene is the major product and 1-butene is the minor product.
Fulminates are chemical compounds which include the fulminate ion. The fulminate ion, CNO−
, is a pseudohalic ion because its charge and reactivity are similar to those of the halogens. Due to the instability of the ion, fulminate salts are friction-sensitive explosives. The best known is mercury(II) fulminate, which has been used as a primary explosive in detonators. Fulminates can be formed from metals, such as silver and mercury, dissolved in nitric acid and reacted with ethanol. The weak single nitrogen-oxygen bond is responsible for their instability. Nitrogen very easily forms a stable triple bond to another nitrogen atom, forming nitrogen gas.
Cyanate is an anion with the structural formula [O=C=N]−, usually written OCN−. It also refers to any salt containing it, such as ammonium cyanate.
Isocyanic acid is a chemical compound with the structural formula HNCO, which is often written as H–N=C=O. It is a colourless substance, volatile and poisonous, with a boiling point of 23.5 °C. It is the predominant tautomer of cyanic acid H–O–C≡N.
Mercury(II) cyanide, also known as mercuric cyanide, is a compound of mercury. It is an odorless, toxic white powder. It is highly soluble in polar solvents such as water, alcohol, and ammonia; slightly soluble in ether; and insoluble in benzene and other hydrophobic solvents.
Graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) are complex materials having a formula CXm where the ion Xn+ or Xn− is inserted (intercalated) between the oppositely charged carbon layers. Typically m is much less than 1. These materials are deeply colored solids that exhibit a range of electrical and redox properties of potential applications.
The Chromic acid cell was a type of primary cell which used chromic acid as a depolarizer. The chromic acid was usually made by acidifying a solution of potassium dichromate. The old name for potassium dichromate was potassium bichromate and the cell was often called a Bichromate cell. This type of cell is now only of historical interest.
The Fleming–Tamao oxidation, or Tamao–Kumada–Fleming oxidation, converts a carbon–silicon bond to a carbon–oxygen bond with a peroxy acid or hydrogen peroxide. Fleming–Tamao oxidation refers to two slightly different conditions developed concurrently in the early 1980s by the Kohei Tamao and Ian Fleming research groups.
