Synthesis, structure and characterization of neutral coordination polymers of 5,5′-bistetrazole with copper(ii), zinc(ii) and cadmium(ii): a new route to reconcile oxygen balance and nitrogen content of high-energy MOFs

Abstract

Hydrothermal reactions of Cu(II)/Zn(II)/Cd(II) with 5,5′-bistetrazole (H₂BT) lead to three new energetic coordination polymers: [CuBT(H₂O)]_n (1), [ZnBT(H₂O)₂]_n (2), and [CdBT(H₂O)₂]_n (3). These crystal structures were determined by single X-ray diffraction. Compound 1 forms regular and compact 3-D frameworks and compounds 2–3 are 1-D chain structures. These compounds show prominent thermostability (T_dec = 349.1 °C for 1, 334.8 °C for 2, and 394.2 °C for 3) investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Sensitivities towards impact and friction were measured. Compound 1 is sensitive to both impact and friction (100% explosion under the test conditions), while compounds 2–3 are sensitive to neither (0% explosion under the test conditions). The heats of detonation (ΔH_det) of 1–3 were calculated based on density functional theory (DFT). Compound 1 possesses the highest calculated ΔH_det (26.7267 kJ g⁻¹) among the reported energetic MOFs. Moreover, compared with the reported energetic MOFs, compound 1 also has a good balance of high nitrogen content (51.46%) and high oxygen balance (−36.76%) as well as a very high crystal density of 2.505 g cm⁻³.