Scale-up and waste-minimization of the Los Alamos process for 1,3,3-trinitroazetidine (TNAZ)

The original synthesis of TNAZ (1,3,3-trinitroazetidine) was developed by T. G. Archibald in 1983 and was scaled up to produce several hundred kg of TNAZ for evaluation by the DoD. Although the synthesis method utilizes inexpensive starting materials, it is a multi-step process that gives less than 20% overall yields and produces significant chemical waste (over 1200 kg kg ^-1 of TNAZ), including large quantities of halogenated solvents. An alternative synthesis, which gives much higher yields of TNAZ and less waste than obtained from the original process, was developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The technology was transferred to Aerojet, Sacramento, where it was scaled up to production-plant quantities to give TNAZ in 57% overall yield. The new process produced about 10% of the waste produced in the original process without recycle of solvents or reagents. It is estimated that recycle of solvents and reagents will reduce the chemical waste to 15.7 kg kg ^-1 of TNAZ. Further improvements in waste reduction have been demonstrated that may eventually lead to a process giving little more than 3.7 kg of chemical waste kg ^-1 of TNAZ in addition to the energy burden encountered with any industrial process.