Dec 30, 2015 slowmo explosion of picric acid at meadows field 23abc news brings you up to the minute breaking news alerts, weather, traffic as well as live streaming video for bakersfield, kern county and all. The first product is probably 6nitrophenol2,4disulfonic acid. Sufficiently pure samples of picric acid have the same order of stability as tnt chem. In subsequent steps, the nitronium ion attacks at the 2 and 4positions, displacing the sulfonic acid.
Labchem lc186701 picric acid solution, saturated, 500 ml. Picric acid, when in contact with metals, can form sensitive metal picrates. Improved spectrophotometric assay of cyanide with picric acid. Files available from the acs website may be downloaded for personal use only. Picric acid is an organic compound with the formula o 2 n 3 c 6 h 2 oh. This proposed method is rapid, highly specific and suitable for the confirmation and quantitative determination of picric acid and picramic acid in surface water and waste water. Picric acid is mainly used in manufacture of explosives and as an intermediate in dye manufacturing.
Slowmo explosion of picric acid at meadows field 23abc news brings you up to the minute breaking news alerts, weather, traffic as well as live streaming video for bakersfield, kern county and all. It has a role as an explosive, an antiseptic drug and a fixative. The offending material is understood to have been 30g of picric acid, a potentially explosive substance which is commonly used by laboratories. Material required aspirin tablets 5 grains per tablet alcohol, 95% pure sulfuric acid, concentrated, if battery acid, boil until white fumes disappear. Picric acid definition of picric acid by merriamwebster. Classified as a flammable solid when wetted with more than 30% water un44, class 4. Picric acid or trinitrophenol is, by far, one of the more dangerous chemicals being used today. As an acid, contact with metals form picrate salts, nearly of all which are energetic to some degree. Unless otherwise noted, the contents of the fda website. Picric acid has antiseptic and astringent properties. Picric acid 2,4,6trinitrophenol, a derivative of phenol, is a yellow solid. Picric acid is an organic acid, and will react with many metals and bases to form salts known as picrates, which are more sensitive than picric acid itself, as well as forming a few complexes. Burns if ignited by a flame and continues to burns quietly if the quantity is small or, if large, is thinly spread over an area. Picric acid from greek pikros, bitter was so named by the 19thcentury french chemist jeanbaptisteandre dumas because of the extremely bitter taste of its.
Users are not otherwise permitted to reproduce, republish. Picric acid in alkaline solution has been widely used as a reagent in colorimetry. Salts with ammonia, amines and complexes with hydrocarbons are less sensitive kirkothmer, 1965, vol. It also devastated a wide area, destroying schools, factories, docks, churches, ships and over 1,600 homes. Labchem lc186701 picric acid solution, saturated, 500 ml volume. Potential hazards the most serious hazard associateddamage. Grind it up and mix it with diesel and it becomes a lot more powerful. A shockinsensitive explosive compound that forms shocksensitive explosive salts with metals such as lead is too unwieldy for most usual applications.
The moistened solid is classified as a flammable solid. The picric acid exploded with enough force to blow out a large section of the plants flat truss roof and concrete walls. Pic, acidum picrinicum, picrinicum adicum, acidum picricum picac. Picric acid has been used for many years by fly tyers to dye mole skins and feathers dark olive green. Jul 29, 2011 picric acid 2,4,6trinitrophenol, no23c6h2oh is widely used in metallography labs for the common steel etchants known as picral, a 4% solution in ethanol, vilellas reagent, 1 g picric acid and 5 ml hcl and 100 ml ethanol, and alkaline sodium picrate 2 g picric acid, 20 g naoh, 100 ml water for coloring m3c and m6c carbides, as well as several other formulations. The first synthetic dye, picric acid, was prepared in 1771 by british chemist peter woulfe from the. It is difficult to improve upon a 100% perfect safety history over a period of use exceeding 200 years. A glass of some chemical had been standing in one of the dtu biosys lab fridges for 20y, sadly they had to demolish it in this rather great way using 100g explosives. Unknown to the workers, the organic materials in the capacitors apparently reacted with the acid to create picric acid, an explosive compound. Slowmo explosion of picric acid at meadows field youtube. Deputies found a dangerous acid while cleaning out a pharmacy in lake. Chemical accidents with picric acid crystallized go back to listing of all property values. Picric acid is an organic compound with the formula o2n3c6h2oh.
When hydrated, picric acid is a typically safe to handle, but it becomes a powerful explosive when dry less than 10% water. Deputies detonate dangerous acid found at lake city pharmacy. How to convert the explosive power of one ton of picric. Industrial metals recovery worker killed in explosion. Picric acid c6h2no23oh, is a chemical compound formally called 2,4,6trinitrophenol tnp. It is a phenol derived compound and it is also known as 2,4,6trinitrophenol. Chemical accidents with picric acid crystallized go back to listing of all property values 23470 chemical accident in france with picric acid crystallized. A poisonous, explosive yellow crystalline solid, c6h3n3o7, used in explosives, dyes, and for etching. It is no longer used as an explosive because of this type of reaction.
Information on picric acid stanford environmental health. Bombs, mines and grenades were coated with tin or ashpatim to prevent the picric acid from contacting the metallic shell 8. Picric acid definition and meaning collins english. The explosion instantly killed the victim and severely injured a second worker. Both 2,4,6trinitrophenol and 2,4dinitrophenol are found in the waste streams released into the environment by aniline production plants. Making picric acid from aspirin by the jolly roger picric acid can be used as a booster explosive in detonators, a high explosive charge, or as an intermediate to preparing lead picrate. Store picric acid in a cool, dry, wellventilated area, out of direct sunlight and away from sources of heat. Picric acid is a highpowered explosive when allowed to dehydrate. Phe publications gateway number 2014790 pdf, 273kb, pages this file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.
Like other highly nitrated organic compounds, picric acid is an explosive, hence its primary use. Normally, water is added to picric acid, otherwise the dry material is a touch sensitive explosive. But so far as i can tell there are zero incidents reported for the laboratory setting involving an unexpected explosion of picric acid, across the entire history of its use from 1771 until the present. A toxic yellow crystalline solid and one of the most acidic phenols. In my lab all we do is decant off the water that is in the picric acid container and top up the bottle. What is a picric acid test and what is its function. Cdc niosh pocket guide to chemical hazards picric acid. Fbi arrests suspected bomb plotter khalid alim aldawsari in texas. Analysis of picric acid and picramic acid in water samples. The limits of detection lods of picric acid and picramic acid were 0. Readily forms salts on contact with many metals including copper, lead, mercury, zinc, nickel, iron that are more sensitive explosives than picric acid itself when subjected to heat, friction. Like other highly nitrated organic compounds, picric acid is an explosive.
Picric acid safety guidelines concordia university. Contact between picric acid and concrete floors leads to the formation of explosionsensitive salts, such as calcium picrate. The treatment of burns is as yet unsatisfactory, the death rate about the same and many remedies are lauded, but picric acid in solution has given me excellent results. Picric acid definition is a toxic yellow crystalline phenol derivative c6h3n3o7 structurally similar to tnt and used especially as a high explosive and as a dye or mordant. Picric acid hazards attorney general of california. Picric acid, dry undergoes vigorous reactions with both oxidizing or reducing agents.
The name picric comes from the greek pikros, meaning bitter, reflecting its bitter taste. Picric acid can be detonated by extreme heat, a blasting cap, or an electric charge. To secure these facts, an accurate method of determining amounts of hcn in the range of 0. Shock and septicemia are the most dreaded results from the more severe cases, but all this can be. In 1886, the french began using picric acid as a highly explosive priming charge for shells, and by the russojapanese war 19041905, picric acid was the most widely used military explosive, particularly for japanese torpedoes. Introduction in studies on the toxic effect of different concentrations of hcn hydrocyanic acid on fumigated insects, determinations of the amounts of the gas absorbed and retained are important. Apparently, picric acid is not known to occur in nature, because of its highly unstable and reactive nature. Alachua county sheriffs office said a small container of crystallized picric acid, which is highly sensitive to shock and friction and can be explosive, was found at the pharmacy. Picric acid definition of picric acid by medical dictionary. We always ensure that there is picric acid crystals in the bottle, so that the solution is saturated. Picric acid in japanese explosive rounds gunboards forums. Fluorescent trisimidazolium sensors for picric acid explosive the. Jan 15, 2003 unknown to the workers, the organic materials in the capacitors apparently reacted with the acid to create picric acid, an explosive compound. Use and store picric acid in containers made of polyethylene, polypropylene, teflon or glass.
The demolition power of tnt is taken as standard ratio to ma. Labchem lc186701 picric acid solution, saturated, 500 ml volume 5. Picric acid 2,4,6trinitrophenol, no23c6h2oh is widely used in metallography labs for the common steel etchants known as picral, a 4% solution in ethanol, vilellas reagent, 1 g picric acid and 5 ml hcl and 100 ml ethanol, and alkaline sodium picrate 2 g picric acid, 20 g naoh, 100 ml water for coloring m3c and m6c carbides, as well as several other formulations. Picric acid, pale yellow, odourless crystalline solid that has been used as a military explosive, as a yellow dye, and as an antiseptic. Preparation of picric acid chemistry stack exchange. Ammonia and metals with picric acid give results similar to bases.
I decided to make picric acid and put it on youtube because nile reds excellent video on it was removed by him. Picric acid trinitrophenol or 2,4,6 trinitrophenol explosion hazard when dry cas number 88891 date occurred 23rd may 2007 what happened a disposal request was received for a 500 gram jar of picric acid that had dried out. Page 1 of 2 picric acid university of michiganflint. Picricum acidum picric acid, trinitrophenol, ammonium picrate, ammon. A meta description is an html tag in the html code of your website, which allows you to customize a section of text that describes the page itself. Picric acid is in the same family of nitroaromatic explosives as trinitrotoluene tnt.
Extensive preliminary investigations showed that the picric acid method had the greatest promise. Analysis of picric acid and picramic acid in water. The picric acid method for determining minute amounts of. The explosion killed more than 1,900 people and injured a further 9,000. Dry picric acid is highly sensitive to heat, shock, and friction. The dry compound can explode if shocked or exposed to heat. Contact with metallic zinc or lead can cause detonation. If you want to make a saturated alcoholic solution, scoop. Picric acid article about picric acid by the free dictionary. Sciencemadness discussion board is old picric acid gauze.
Dumas realized that the yellow crystal was highly explosive. Every couple months, an article appears in the local paper about a bomb disposal team removing picric acid that was found in a laboratory. I assume this was because he was scared of receiving a strike from youtube. But picric acid also had a benign side during the first world war. Jun 23, 2016 picric acid c6h2no23oh, is a chemical compound formally called 2,4,6trinitrophenol tnp. Jun 29, 2010 a glass of some chemical had been standing in one of the dtu biosys lab fridges for 20y, sadly they had to demolish it in this rather great way using 100g explosives. Additionally, picric acid reacts vigorously with a variety of materials and is toxic to humans through all routes of entry 1. Picric acid, wet, with not less than 10% water undergoes vigorous reactions with both oxidizing or reducing agents. Picric acid emits a highpitched whine during combustion in air and this has led to its widespread use in fireworks. Personally, i think that the mesomeric effect of the oxygens lone pairs in picric acid should keep the nitro groups happy, because of the increase in electron density. If you want to make a saturated alcoholic solution, scoop out some of the picric acid and place in a filter paper. Hydrocyanic acid is collected in dilute sodium hydroxide solution and then reacted at ph 7 and 100 c with picric acid solution, forming 2,6dinitro5hydroxy4hydroxylamino1,3dicyanobenzene. Potential explosion hazards when hydrated, picric acid is a typically safe to handle, but it becomes a powerful explosive when dry less than 10% water.
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