(107a) A Kinetic Analysis of the Shipp Synthesis of 2,2',4,4',6,6'-Hexanitrostilbene from 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene

2,2’,4,4’,6,6’-Hexanitrostilbene (HNS) is an important explosive utilized for multiple purposes due to its thermally stable nature and insensitivity to impact and electrostatic shock. The most common synthesis route used for manufacturing HNS is known as Shipp synthesis and involves using an alkaline sodium hypochlorite solution to facilitate the conversion of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) to HNS. The goal of this study is to develop a reaction network and the corresponding kinetic parameters for the Shipp synthesis method. This reaction network can then be utilized to optimize the reaction conditions and show how the production of HNS using Shipp synthesis could be converted from a batch process to a continuous one. A key issue surrounding this synthesis route involves the low solubility of both the reactants and products, therefore large importance is placed on the solubility modeling of the reacting system.