Outdoor dissolution and photodegradation of insensitive munitions formulations IMX-101 and IMX-104: Photolytic transformation pathway and mechanism study. (October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Qin, Chao; Abrell, Leif; Troya, Diego; Hunt, Edward; Taylor, Susan; Dontsova, Katerina
• Is Part Of: Chemosphere. Volume 280(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-10
• Subjects: Insensitive munitions -- IMX-101 -- IMX-104 -- Photolysis -- Dissolution -- Transformation products; Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Physiological effect -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Atmospheric chemistry -- Periodicals; 551.511
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130672
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0045-6535

Abstract

Abstract: New munition compounds have been developed to replace traditional explosives to prevent unintended detonations. However, insensitive munitions (IM) can leave large proportion of unexploded charge in the field, where it is subjected to photodegradation and dissolution in precipitation. The photolytic reactions occurring on the surfaces of IMX-101 and IMX-104 formulations and the subsequent fate of photolytic products in the environment were thoroughly investigated. The constituents of IMX-101 and IMX-104 formulations dissolve sequentially under rainfall in the order of aqueous solubility: 3-nitro-1, 2, 4-triazol-5-one (NTO) > nitroguanidine (NQ) > 2, 4-dinitroanisole (DNAN) > 1, 3, 5-hexahydro-1, 3, 5-trinitro-1, 3, 5-triazine (RDX). A linear relationship between DNAN dissolution and rainwater volume was observed ( r 2 : 0.86–0.99). It was estimated that it would take 16–228 years to completely dissolve these formulation particles under natural environmental conditions in Oracle, AZ. We used LC/MS/MS and GC/MS to examine the dissolution samples from IMX-101 and 104 particles exposed to rainfall and sunlight and found six DNAN photo-transformation products including 2-methoxy-5-nitrophenol, 4-methoxy-3-nitrophenol, 4-methoxy-3-nitroaniline, 2-methoxy-5-nitroaniline, 2, 4-dinitrophenol, and methoxy-dinitrophenol, which are in good agreement with computational modeling results of bond strengths. The main DNAN photodegradation pathways are therefore proposed. Predicted eco-toxicity values suggested that the parent compound DNAN, methoxy-nitrophenols, methoxy-nitroanilines and the other two products (2, 4-dinitrophenol and methoxy-dinitrophenol) would be harmful to fish and daphnid. Our study provides improved insight about the rain dissolution and photochemical behavior of IM formulations under natural conditions, which helps to form target-oriented strategies to mitigate explosive contamination in military training sites. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: IM formulations dissolve under rainfall sequentially in order of solubility. Linear dissolution of DNAN with rainwater volume was observed. Six main DNAN photo-transformation products were identified and quantified. DNAN and other two photodegradation products were predicted to have high eco-toxicity.