In this universe that’s birthed infinite permutations of cranky bastard molecules, chemists went all “hold my beer” and just had to pop out a couple of asshole children in the lab.
Today’s Moment of Science… Azidoazide azide.
When putting together an explosive device, it’s not just “stuff goes huge bang wear a helmet.” Explosive material can be set off via some combination of electrical current, heat, or impact (in some cases, mere friction will do it). Sensitivity level to these triggers is important, and it’s one of many chemical properties that factors into explosive selection.
For instance C4 is extremely useful as an explosive because it’s a scary fucker, but pretty hard to set off accidentally. Light it on fire and it’ll burn but not explode. Want to get out pent up aggression with a baseball bat on some C4? Uh, super weird, but it won’t cause an explosion. This sucker runs on electricity, and when it does blow, you’d best use a good length of det cord.
How useful is a chemical if it’s a motherfuck of blast, but it’s so volatile you can’t get much out of the lab? That’s the story of 1-diazidocarbamoyl-5-azidotetrazole, or as it was famously dubbed by chemist Derek Lowe, azidoazide azide.
Don’t breathe on this stuff the wrong way. Don’t look at it the wrong way. Don’t talk about its mom.
First synthesized in 1961, it was resurrected in 2011 at the Klapötke lab in Munich by chemists with little regard for their limbs. Their first paper described it colorfully as “An Energetic and Highly Sensitive Binary Azidotetrazole.” Which is chemist for “do you have any idea what this cuntwhistle molecule can do?”
It exploded multiple times while they were trying to get an IR spectrum of it. There are lab tests that involve some degree of agitating a chemical, and this ain’t it. It exploded just sitting there. They conducted tests for sensitivity to impact and friction. Well, they attempted to. Azidoazide azide is so sensitive, so ready to explode that its sensitivity level was deemed “beyond our capabilities of measurement.” Which is saying something, because the Klapötke Lab specializes in this kind of particularly cranky molecule.
If they’ve reached “oh fuck” on this chemical already, I’m not sure how much hope there is for it.
The label ‘the most explosive chemical’ has been thrown around for it, which is tricky to verify. There are other extremely sensitive contact explosives but comparing immeasurably sensitive substances would prove difficult. Whether this is the blastiest stuff, or even stuff there’s a use for, it’s likely not stuff anyone outside of a research lab will be poking at for a long time.
This has been your Moment of Science, not at all missing working with explosives after writing this.
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