Synthesis and Crystal Structure of 2,6,8,12-Tetraacetyl- 2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazatetracyclo[5.5.0.05,9.03,11]dodecane

1 INTRODUCTION Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (HNIW or CL-20),the fourth generation in energetics, is the most power-ful explosive available for military applications inboth plastic bonded explosive (PBX) compositionsand propellant. To date, a number of nitrolyzable pre-cursors to CL-20 have been investigated, includingisowurtzitane cages substituted with acetyl, formyland nitroso groups and partly unsubstituted cages.Only the synthetic route of CL-20 using 2,6,8,12-te-traacetyl-2,4,6…