TKX-50
TKX-50 is the chemical compound with the formula ; it is a hydroxylammonium salt of 5,5′-bistetrazolyl-1,1′-diolate that forms colorless crystals, and it is a high-performing explosive with performance superior to RDX and HMX while being safer with regard to mechanical stimuli. It is also considered an environmentally-friendly replacement for several conventional explosives. As of 2014, the US Army was preparing it in 20 kg batches in order to evaluate it as an explosive. It was invented by Niko Fischer, Dennis Fischer, Davin G. Piercey, Thomas M. Klapötke and Jörg Stierstorfer in the research group of Thomas M. Klapötke at LMU Munich. Its development was funded by LMU Munich, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program and the Office of Naval Research.
Synthesis
The compound is prepared by reacting 5,5′-bistetrazolyl-1,1′-diol with hydroxylamine. The starting compound BTO can be obtained relatively easily from glyoxal, hydroxylamine, chlorine, and sodium azide.Since the initial synthesis of TKX-50 multiple research groups have improved the synthesis to make it more suitable for mass production including by adding protecting groups to make intermediates safer and the United States Army Research Laboratory by performing multiple steps of the synthesis in a 1-pot reaction.