Silver fulminate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Silver fulminate chemical structure
Silver fulminate
Silver (I) oxidoazaniumylidynemethane
IUPAC name
Chemical formula AgONC
Molecular mass 149.885 g/mol
Shock sensitivity Very high
Friction sensitivity Very high
Density  ?
Explosive velocity  ?
RE factor Unknown
Melting point N/A
Autoignition temperature 170 °C
Appearance Powdery grey crystals
CAS number 5610-59-3
PubChem 62585
SMILES [C-]#[N+][O-].[Ag+]

Silver fulminate (AgONC) is an ionic compound of silver and the fulminate anion. It has CAS number 5610-59-3.

It is a primary explosive that has very little practical value due to its extreme sensitivity. The impact of a single water droplet has been known to detonate several milligrams of silver fulminate. Even small amounts of this explosive can cause extensive shrapnel damage, and should be treated with extreme caution. Silver fulminate is often confused with fulminating silver, a decomposition product of Tollen's reagent. Fulminating silver does not contain the fulminate anion, although it is also an explosive compound.

Silver fulminate is used in trick noise-makers known as "crackers", "snappers," "pop-its," or "bang-snaps," a popular type of novelty firework.

Only very tiny amounts of silver fulminate should be prepared at once, as even the weight of the crystals can cause them to self detonate. Silver fulminate was first prepared in 1800 by Edward Charles Howard in his research project to prepare a large variety of fulminates. For 200 years it has been only useful as a curiosity explosive in toys and tricks.

It can can be prepared by the reaction of concentrated nitric acid with silver metal and ethyl alcohol, under careful control of the reactional conditions, to avoid explosion.

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