The ¹⁴N quadrupole coupling in hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD)

Authors

John Persons, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Gerard S. Harbison, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

August 2007

Comments

Published in Magnetic Resonance In Chemistry 45 (2007), pp. 905–908. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published online in Wiley InterScience http://www.interscience.wiley.com Used by permission.

Abstract

Using high-field NMR, we have determined the magnitude of the nuclear quadrupole interaction in hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD), the explosive allegedly used in the London bombings of July 2005. The experimental quadrupolar coupling constant, 5.334 MHz, is in good agreement with quantum chemical calculations. The predicted single zero-field transition frequency should lie in a relatively empty part of the 14N nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) spectrum; the spin relaxation rate is reasonably fast.