SYNTHESIS OF TETRA-FUNCTIONAL CUBANE DERIVATIVES

AN APPROACH HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO MEET THE SPECIFIC IMPULSE INTENSIVE NEEDS OF STRATEGIC DEFENSE APPLICATIONS BASED ON THE INTRINSIC ENERGY THAT WOULD BE RELEASED DURING COMBUSTION OF ENERGETIC CUBANE DERIVATIVES. WHILE CUBANE-1,2,4,7-TETRACARBOXYLIC ACID IS AN IMPORTANT SYNTHETIC ENTRY INTO ENERGETIC CUBANE COMPOUNDS, PROCEDURES FOR LARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION OF THIS MATERIAL ARE NOT AVAILABLE. ROUTES FOR LARGE SCALE PREPARATION OF THIS TETRA ACID ARE BEING DEVELOPED. THE FEASIBILITY IS BEING INVESTIGATED OF SCALING UP EXISTING ROUTES STARTING WITH CUBANE-1,4-DICARBOXYLIC ACID. NEW ROUTES ARE BEING EXAMINED BASED ON FUNCTIONALIZED CUBANE PRECURSORS IN WHICH THE CUBANE-FORMING STEP IS THE LAST STEP IN THE SEQUENCE. BASED ON THESE STUDIES, A ROUTE IS BEING SELECTED FOR PROCESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTED ATTHE ECONOMICAL AND PRACTICAL SYNTHESIS OF KILOGRAM QUANTITIES OF CUBANE-1,2,4,7-TETRACARBOXYLIC ACID. THE READY AVAILABILITY OF THIS TETRA ACID WOULD ALLOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PROPELLANTS AND EXPLOSIVES WITH HIGHER PERFORMANCE THERMAL STABILITY AND DENSITY THAN STATE-OF-THE-ART MATERIALS. A READY SOURCE OF THIS TETRA ACID ALSO WOULD BE OF IMMEDIATE USE IN THE AREA OF POLYNITROCUBANES AND CUBYL POLYMERS AND WOULD ENCOURAGE INVESTIGATIONS OF OTHER CUBANE COMPOUNDS IN MANY BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS IN PHARMACEUTICALS, INSECTICIDES, AND RELATED APPLICATIONS.