Hexamethylenetriperoxidediamine (HMTD) Synthesis

There are many websites out there describing the synthesis of HMTD. Following the theme of my website I am simply documenting the procedure I follow. And so, it may not be the exact same as other procedures floating around. Right then, with that out of the way here's a brief word on HMTD.
HMTD is an organic peroxide (like acetone peroxide). As such it is a primary explosive and a sensitive one. I feel that the production is bit harder than AP simply because of the powders and weighing involved, but it is still fairly simple to make. Again, it is quite dangerous. It has its own particular sensitivities and incompatibilities and I strongly advise reading up on these before producing and using this. And now the process.

The materials needed aren't too hard to find but may require some searching. I use the 35% hydrogen peroxide for this, as lower concentrations don't seem to give such great (if any) yields. The hexamine I use was purchased as heating tablets for a portable stove. The citric acid used was from a pharmacy, but I also have it as "Sour Salt". These chemicals are all listed on the chemicals page.

First 20 ml of H2O2 (left) were measured out and chilled to around 0 Celsius in a freezer, and then 6.5 grams of powdered hexamine (middle) were weighed out and stirred in. There was some stirring required to dissolve all the hexamine, but it eventually all dissolved. The solution was then placed back into the freezer to chill it back down to 0 Celsius. 10 grams of citric acid (right) were then weighed out and slowly added to the solution keeping it close to 0 Celsius.



The solution was stirred for around 5-10 minutes more and then kept at 0 Celsius for an hour with stirring every few minutes. Stirring for 3 hours at 0 Celsius apparently improves yields, but I don't do this. The solution was then left at room temperature for 3 hours, and upon inspection at this point was seen to be a semi-solid mass with no visible liquid.



This was then filtered and washed with water and a sodium bicarbonate solution. Washing with alcohol can be done to speed up drying. The HMTD is then left to dry out before use.

Here are 2 pictures of the damage done to a tree from the HMTD made in this synth.

---