Understanding the Dissociation Pathways and Corresponding Dynamics of Ethylene Glycol Dinitrate (EGDN): a Liquid Explosive

Liquid explosives, like nitrate ester explosives, are used in the military and industrial sectors as priming or main charge explosives. Nitrate ester explosives include nitroglycerine (NG), ethylene glycol dinitrate (EGDN), and erythritol tetranitrate (ETN)). These explosives can be synthesized from common household sugar alcohols and are sensitive to heat, shock, or friction. Their metastable properties can lead to challenges when investigating dissociation pathways and dynamic behaviors. We began our research with the analysis of EGDN. To better understand its metastable properties, we examine its fragmentation pathways and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) lifetimes computationally and experimentally. The computational studies include DFT calculations, where we identified fragments at 30 m/z, 46 m/z, and 76 m/z. Experimentally, we analyzed the EGDN cation using our femtosecond time-resolved mass spectrometry to identify the lifetimes of these metastable cations. Our preliminary data suggests that the EGDN cation decomposes in less than 100 femtoseconds.