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COMMON NAME – HMTD

NAME – Hexamethylene triperoxide diamine

CHEMICAL NAME – 3,4,8,9,12,13-Hexaoxa-1,6-diazabicyclo [4.4.4] tetradecane

TYPE – Primary explosive

DATE OF DISCOVERY – 1885

DATE FIRST USED AS AN EXPLOSIVE – 1885

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN – Germany

MOLECULAR FORMULA – C₆H₁₂N₂O₆

MOLECULAR WEIGHT – 208

DENSITY – 1.57 g per ml [0.4 g per ml – loose powder]

NORMAL STATE – Crystalline powder

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE/COLOR – White

INITIATION – Flame or percussion

SENSITIVITY – Sensitive to shock and heat, extremely sensitive to friction

STABILITY – Stable when pure, impure material degrades at ambient conditions into volatile substances

DETONATION VELOCITY – 7,777 m/s (25,515 fps) [3,000 m/s (9,843 fps) loose powder]

RE FACTOR (BRISANCE) [TNT=1.0] – 0.74

TOXICITY – Slight, rapidly degraded in the body

MELTING POINT – 75^o C.(167^o F.) Decomposes

IGNITION POINT – 133^o C.(271^o F.)

SOLUBILITY – Insoluble in water

APPLICATIONS – PRINCIPLE USES – Clandestine improvised detonators and explosive charges

     Hexamethylenetriperoxide Diamine, more commonly known as HMTD, is an organic peroxide that can act as a primary explosive. The power of HMTD, greater than that of Mercury fulminate, is sufficient to initiate a number of high explosives, but the very sensitive nature of the material prevents any practical use being made of it. Shock, friction, static electricity, heat, and strong ultraviolet radiation are all capable of initiating a HMTD explosion. The material is relatively easy to manufacture from readily available materials, which makes it popular among amateur chemists. The difficulty in making HMTD pure enough to be stable has caused a number of accidents and injuries. It has also proven to be a popular explosive material for terrorist use and has been used in a number of explosive attacks and suicide bombings.

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