Crystal structure of tris(4-acetamidophenoxymethyl) methanol hydrate

CHED 1159

Katie L. Juromski, kjuromski2@washcoll.edu, Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620, Anne E. Marteel-Parrish, amarteel2@washcoll.edu, Department of Chemistry, Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620, Damon A. Parrish, Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Avenue, Washington, DC 20375, Reddy Damavarapu, Geocenters Inc. @ ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806, and Maoxi Zang, Geocenters Inc. @ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806.
The technique of X-ray crystallography is used to determine exact atom arrangements within crystalline structures for identification. Rapid advances in X-ray diffraction in recent years have led to the determination of thousands of crystal structures internationally. The purpose of this study was to verify that the compound produced by synthetic chemists from Picatinny Arsenal was the desired compound. The structure of material sent to the United States Naval Research Laboratory was solved using X-ray crystallography. Tris(4-acetamidophenoxymethyl) methanol was found to be one of the key ingredients of a cast-curable explosive formulation. The material exists as a liquid when hot and can be poured into a mold of any desired shape. Upon cooling, the material forms a highly stable solid explosive. The structure was proven to be identical to what was expected with the addition of a water molecule present only 70% of the time.
 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Inorganic Chemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008