MASS-SPECTROMETRIC INVESTIGATION OF THE THERMAL-DECOMPOSITION OF RDX

The products of thermal decomposition of 1,3,5-trinitrohexahydro 1,3,5-trizine (RDX) in vacuum have been determined mass spectrometrically below and above the melting point. Employing a cell with an elongated office to form a collimated beam, RDX decomposition products were identified within a few microseconds after leaving the cell. A major mode of the decomposition was the splitting of the RDX molecule into two unstable fragments at 148 and 74 amu, as determined by mass spectrometry. These fragments underwent further decomposition into numerous smaller species. A second mode of decomposition was the removal of the NO2 groups from the ring, leaving dihydro-sym-triazine as a product. No evidence of the RDX molecule was found in the vapor phase. © 1979.