Computational design of new fused heterocyclic energetic materials

Linear oxadiazole-based energetic materials exhibit attractive performance and sensitivity characteristics compared to known conventional high energy density materials and are considered as appealing potential candidates to be used as explosives, propellants, and cast-melt ingredients in composite explosives. Despite all advantages of the oxadiazole-based compounds the improvements of their physical and chemical properties are bound by certain limits. It is impossible to create new material with significantly improved parameters by variation of oxadiazole rings within the linear molecule. A further step in enhancing explosive characteristics, i.e. higher performance and lower sensitivity, in heterocycles would be to probe a fused energetic molecules in which a stable (rigid) molecular core is functionalized with appropriate rings (or even combinations of rings). Here we report a systematic study that helps to reveal and optimize structure-property-function relationships in fused heterocyclic energetic materials. We show that arrangement of heterocyclic rings in fused molecules opens new opportunities for design new insensitive energetic materials with high performance.