Rediscovering N‐Methyltetranitropyrrole – A Versatile High Energy Material via Facile Two‐step Eco‐friendly Synthetic Approach

Abstract A highly efficient 2‐step method, where three nitro groups could be directly introduced upon pyrrole moiety in a single step, was developed as an environmentally benign process for the synthesis of N‐methyltetranitropyrrole ( 1 ) employing metal nitrate/conc. sulphuric acid as the nitrating reagent. This method resulted 1 in high purity having higher thermal stability (273 °C) along with reduced sensitivity (impact sensitivity >40 J; fricition sensitivity >360 N), which makes it a versatile high energy material. An over‐oxidized new product 1‐methyl‐3,3,4,4‐tetranitropyrrolidine‐2,5‐dione ( 4 ) was also isolated during optimization, whose energetic properties are similar to those of RDX.