Chemistry of Pentazole

The pentazolate anion is an all-nitrogen-containing five-membered-ring moiety that has recently attracted great attention as a promising structural motif for the development of novel energetic materials. In this chapter, a comprehensive review of the chemistry and performance of the pentazole-based energetic materials is presented. Several synthetic strategies toward the construction of aryl-, heteroaryl-, and other substituted pentazoles, from readily available acyclic precursors, are considered. Preparation of pentazole-based metal salts, metal–inorganic frameworks, and coordination polymers, along with their structural features, are also described. Thermal stability and detonation performance of the resulting pentazole-derived materials, as well as their application potential, are discussed.