Unveiling Insensitive High-Nitrogen Energetic Materials: Fabrication of Pyrimidine via Bridging and Self-Assembly

The development of insensitive high-energy-density materials (IHEMs) without compromising their performance remains a significant challenge for energetic materials chemists worldwide. In this study, a straightforward bridging approach and a much-underexplored self-assembly approach were employed to synthesize a series of novel energetic compounds with exceptional properties, including high densities (1.80–1.92 g cm–3), excellent thermal stability (190–278 °C), and outstanding detonation performance (VOD: 8388–9496 m s–1; DP: 28.26–37.60 GPa). These materials also exhibit remarkable insensitivity to impact (>25 J) and friction (>288 N). Among them, compound 5 demonstrates superior physicochemical and energetic characteristics, making it a promising alternative to HMX and FOX-7 and recently reported compounds 2,4,6-triamino-5-nitropyrimidine-1,3-dioxide (ICM-102) and 3,5-diamino-6-hydroxy-2-oxide-4-nitropyrimidone (IHEM-1). This study underscores the exceptional potential of self-assembly and bridging strategies in designing advanced IHEMs, offering enhanced synthetic feasibility and scalability for next-generation advanced energetic materials.