Assay of the Insensitive High Explosive 3-Nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO) by Acid-Base Titration

The insensitive high explosive 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO) is a weak acid (pKa 3.76) due to the labile N–H bond. The weakly acidic character of this compound is exploited for its assay by aqueous acid-base titration. The NTO sample was dissolved in water and the resultant solution was titrated against 0.07 N NaOH solution using phenolphthalein as indicator. Regular batch samples were assayed by this method and the results were compared with those obtained by the HPLC method. The aqueous acid-base titration method was found to be suitable for the quality control of the product.