Picric Acid Was Historically Widely Used as an Explosive

Picric Acid 

Picric acid was once very important as an explosive. Under the name melinite, the French started employing it as a bursting charge for shells. Acid was the most often employed military explosive by the time of the Russo-Japanese War. However, because of its highly corrosive action on the metal surfaces of shells, its employment decreased after World War I. Modern armor-piercing shells use ammonium picrate, one of the acid salts, because it is insensitive enough to tolerate the powerful shock of penetration before detonating.

According to Coherent Market Insights the Picric Acid Market Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2022-2028.

Trinitrophenol, commonly known as acid, is primarily utilised in the production of explosives, drugs, and dyes. Acid can be utilised as an explosive in both its pure and metallic structure forms. It serves as an auxiliary fuel for rockets and other explosives. It is used to treat burnout, exhaustion, degenerative spinal conditions, hackneyed minds, and mental exhaustion in the healthcare sector. In the textile sector, picric acid-based dyes are generally preferred. Plastic, paint, printing ink, rubber, cosmetics, and other finished goods all contain dyes.

 The first nitrated organic chemical that was regarded as sufficiently robust to endure the stress of fire in conventional artillery was Acid. Although nitrocellulose (guncotton) and nitroglycerine were previously available, their shock sensitivity occasionally led to detonation in an artillery barrel at the time of fire. French scientist Eugene Turpin patented the use of pressed and cast acid in blasting charges and artillery shells on the basis of Hermann Springe’s study.

 The aromatic ring of phenol is stimulated toward electrophilic substitution reactions, which leads to attempts to nitrate phenol, also with diluted nitric acid, resulting in the creation of high molecular weight tars. To lessen side effects, fuming sulphuric acid is used to suffocate anhydrous phenol, and the resulting p-hydroxyphenyl-sulfonic acid is subsequently nitrated with strong nitric acid. During this reaction, nitro groups are added, and the sulfonic acid group is displaced. Temperature control is critical because of the reaction's strong exothermic nature. A different method of making picric ac is by directly nitrating 2, 4-Dinitrophenol with nitric acid.