The lack of extremely high-performing explosives with both adequate sensitivities for use and facile preparation is well known. The new invention from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, Germany is the synthesis and application of the two new high performing compounds ABTOX and TKX50 and shows a great detonation velocity and outstanding sensitivity - improving safety and performance. 

CL-20 suffers from both a difficult preparation methodology, and the tendency of the material to revert into the highly sensitive gamma-polymorph; despite these drawbacks CL-20 still finds limited military use where the high performance relative to HMX and RDX drives application. While several other currently-known explosives do outperform HMX, their synthesis routes are exceedingly complex and impractical for industrial scale. For example DDF (Dinitroazofuroxan) and ONC (octanitrocubane) both have detonation velocities in the vicinity of 10,000 m s-1 however they both have ten or more steps in their respective syntheses. This is in addition to their high sensitivities, the former of which is in the range of highly-sensitive primary explosives. Toxicity of energetic materials is also a growing concern due to new understandings of the fate of explosives in the environment, the nitramine content of the ubiquitous RDX, as well as lesser used HMX and CL-20 has been shown to be toxic to vital organisms at the base of the food chain, such as earthworms, and in addition RDX is a probable human carcinogen.
 
Innovation
The invention covers the synthesis and application of two new high performing secondary explosives, namely ABTOX and TKX50. The syntheses have been optimized and adapted for large scale technical synthesis. The utility of the compounds TKX50 and ABTOX is exemplified by their properties, all of which are desirable for high explosives. Firstly, we pay note to the performance in terms of detonation velocity: TKX50 has a higher detonation velocity than CL-20 by 300 m s-1 and is 1000 m s-1 faster than RDX, fulfilling the longstanding requirement for increased performance explosives. Secondly, the sensitivities of TKX50 and ABTOX are outstanding! RDX (7 J impact) is desensitized for use by the addition of binders and plasticizers, whereas TKX50 (20 J impact) and ABTOX (35 J impact) already possess a vastly lowered impact sensitivity increasing the safety margin of these compounds, while allowing easier fulfillment of current insensitive munitions requirements.
 
Commercial Opportunities
There is a great need for new high performing, insensitive and environmentally benign explosives worldwide including all military as well as civil applications. In addition, the synthesis of these materials needs to be cost-efficient in technical scales. Currently used explosives in both sectors are toxic and do partly not fulfil today’s safety requirements. New weapon systems under investigation, e.g. unmanned vehicles, require specially high performing explosives due to their comparatively low payloads.