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Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate

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pentaerythritol tetranitrate [¦pen·tə·ə′rith·rə‚tȯl ‚te·trə′nī‚trāt]
(organic chemistry)
C(CH2ONO2)4A white crystalline compound, melting at 139°C; explodes at 205-215°C; soluble in acetone, insoluble in water; used in medicines and explosives. Also known as penthrite; PETN.
Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate 

(also penthrite), C(CH2ONO2)4, a substance occurring as white crystals that is insoluble in water and that has a melting point of 141°–142° C and a density of 1.74 g/cm3. Pentaerythritol tetranitrate is obtained by the nitration of pentaerythritol using concentrated nitric acid or a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids. The compound is a powerful explosive and is highly detonable and sensitive to mechanical action. Its detonation wave travels at a speed of 8,300 m/sec at a density of 1.6 g/cm3. The heat of explosion is 5,803 kilojoules/kg (1,385 kilocalories/kg), and the compound ignites at 200° C.

Pentaerythritol tetranitrate is used in making detonating fuses; it also serves as a secondary explosive in detonators. It can be mixed with trinitrotoluene to form substances known as pento-lites. In medicine, it is used in vasodilative preparations.

REFERENCE

Orlova, E. Iu. Khimiia i tekhnologüa brizantnykh vzryvchalykh veshchestv, 2nd ed. Leningrad, 1973.
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In the new scheme, the researchers adapted the technology to detect two chemicals typically found in plastic explosives: pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and hexahydro-l,3,5-triazine (RDX).
Cantilevers detect trace amounts of explosives by Goho, A. / Science News
The New York Times reported in its Friday issue that chemists in the FBI laboratory in Washington had discovered traces of PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, on a piece of wreckage from the passenger cabin between rows 17 and 27, a finding that provided scientific evidence that an explosive device was detonated inside the passenger cabin.
FBI SAYS RESIDUE NOT ENOUGH PROOF by Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
While the new finding provides evidence that the plane was destroyed by an explosive device, a senior official noted that PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, was an explosive component commonly found in many bombs and surface-to-air missiles, making it impossible, for now, to know for sure which type of explosive device destroyed the Boeing 747, killing all 230 people aboard.
EVIDENCE OF EXPLOSIVE FOUND IN TWA DEBRIS by Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
 
 
 
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