Re: Copper chlorate and copper chromite in Chinese use?

In article <iWccf.63709$zb5.56131@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, donald
haarmann says...
>
>"Mike Swisher" &lt;Mike_member@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>|
>| But it can! [Be dried.] Chertier's great insight is that water of hydration is
>a ligand.
>| Ammonia substitutes for it, resulting in a dry, combustible powder.
>|
>| The copper sulphate reacts with the barium chlorate, forming copper chlorate
>(in
>| solution) and barium sulphate (as a precipitate).
>|
>| The solution of copper chlorate is then treated with strong ammonia water,
>which
>| first throws material out of solution (as diamminecopper chlorate) then
>| redissolves it as tetramminecopper chlorate is formed. This solution is then
>| dried, forming a deep blue solid, which can be powdered. See photo on p. 41 of
>| Bulletin No. 129. If this "hydrated TAC cannot be dried," then it must be
>| anhydrous; if it is not anhydrous, then you must be in error.
>|
>| In the words of Alexander Seton - confunde mi hunc syllogismum.
>
>
>
>--------
>Well ... bottom line .... Chertier's copper dired only burns, while TAC made
>without water
>is a primary explosive.....
>
>


First, have you made TACC according to the "CIA Black Book" method yourself, and
does it detonate in the open? Absent that experience, I'd be sceptical of the
claim that it detonates in the open. Even the "CIA Black Book" does not make
that claim. It suggests cramming it into a spent 5.56 mm Gov't cartridge case
and crimping a piece of dynamite fuse into the neck! Perhaps unfortunately for
the present discussion, Barry Bush did not undertake such an experiment, no
doubt because it did not seem particularly germane to the topic of fireworks.

I very much doubt that the alcohol intended to be used in that "CIA" method is
laboratory-grade absolute alcohol - some water would be present in any
industrial or beverage alcohol used. Furthermore, the sodium chlorate
weedkillers advocated for the double decomposition reaction may contain as
little as 70% sodium chlorate - we aren't talking about mil-spec oxygen-candle
grade material here. Unlike barium sulphate, Glauber's salt is relatively
soluble, and could not easily be separated from the product. The "ammonia gas"
is obtained by boiling household ammonia, which would undoubtedly produce some
water vapor as well as God knows what other volatiles, e.g., lemon scent, etc.
The result of this process is undoubtedly a very impure material and that may
explain its performance, if indeed it detonates in the open and Chertier's
copper _proprement dite_ does not.

Chertier's copper, made according to Chertier's original procedure with pure
ingredients, is, on the other hand, undoubtedly a pure substance. The method of
preparation obviates the presence of impurities. I have every confidence that
the material prepared by Mr. Bush and illustrated in his article, is what
Chertier's minutely detailed instructions intended. We also know from first-hand
observation - perhaps for the first time in over a hundred years - what its
behavior is when ignited in the open.

Copper chlorate is indicated by Lange and CRC to contain six molecules of water
of hydration. It is this material, not tetramminecopper (II) chlorate, that
cannot be dried.

Neither Lange nor CRC have entries for tetramminecopper (II) chlorate, but
analogous compounds of the tetramminecopper (II) ion do not typically contain
any water of hydration. That Chertier's copper is a tetramminecopper (II)
compound we may deduce by its characteristic color. Double salts of copper and
ammonia do not exhibit this color.

If any source of information mentioned in this discussion deserves scepticism,
it is the "CIA Black Book." It is probably no more competent than most of the
other "intelligence" coming from that origin.

.

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