JWBK121-FM October 11, 2006 21:10 Char Count= 0Preface
Explosives have attracted a lot of unwanted publicity over the years for their misuse in the
taking of life and the destruction of property. Explosives are perceived by most as materials
of fear and at no time is this more prevalent than in times of war. Although such concerns and
views are not unfounded, there is a bigger picture. More explosives have been used in times
of peace than in all of the wars and conflicts put together. How many of the great engineering
achievements would have been possible if not for the intervention of explosives? Blasting
and quarrying have allowed the construction of our transport links, supplied the rock and raw
materials for our buildings, and enabled the extensive mining of minerals and other essential
materials. Explosives are in fact no more than a tool and remain as some of the most fascinating
products of chemistry.
Much of the information concerning the synthesis of organic explosives, and energetic
materials in general, can be found in the form of papers and reviews in academic chemistry
journals. TheJournal of Energetic Materials(USA);Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics
(Germany);Combustion, Explosion and Shockwaves(Russia) andExplosives Engineering
(UK) are specialized journals for reporting the recent advances in the synthesis and technology
of energetic materials. The mainstream organic chemistry journals occasionally report on the
synthesis of energetic materials if that work has a general significance to organic chemistry.
Chemical Abstractsis an invaluable and up to date source of information on patents and publi-
cations relating to advances in energetic materials chemistry and technology. Further, there are
some national/international societies/associations in this field and their main task is to organize
annual conferences/seminars, which provide a forum to scientists, engineers, technologists
and academicians working in this area to exchange information on the latest developments.
Tenny L. Davis first published his two volumes ofThe Chemistry of Powder and Explosives
in 1941 and 1943, and these were subsequently merged into a single volume. This useful
work gives an overview of energetic materials synthesis in the early years. During and after
the Second World War much research was pooled into the science of energetic materials, and
consequently, the number of reported organic compounds with explosive properties increased
enormously together with our knowledge of this subject. Tadeusz Urba ́nski, a Polish chemist at
the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Technical University in Warsaw, published
the four volume series ofChemistry and Technology of Explosivesover the years of 1964,
1965, 1967 and 1984. This work is a wealth of knowledge for anything from the industrial and
laboratory synthesis of explosives to their physical, chemical, thermal and explosive properties.
Unfortunately, this text is now out of print and over 20 years old. As the number of reported
energetic materials continues to grow at a rapid rate, and while a number of excellent reviews
have been published to fill this knowledge gap, there is still no single text available which
is completely devoted to the synthesis of energetic materials from the simplest mixed acid
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