Triazine-Augmented Catalytic Activity of Cyclobutadiene Tricarbonyl Fe(0) Complexes for Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Perchlorate

The employment of combustion catalysts is an effective way to improve ammonium perchlorate (AP) decomposition performance during the combustion process of composite solid propellants. A classic half-sandwich iron carbonyl complex was proposed as the leading structure for exploring high-performance combustion catalysts, in which functionalized cyclobutadienes (Cb) tune the thermal stability and catalytic activity. The thermolysis of Fe2(CO)9 and substituted alkynes initiated [2 + 2] cyclization of alkyne triple bonds and gave η4-cyclobutadiene iron(0) tricarbonyl complexes, CbR1,R2-Fe-CO (1–6), with decent yields. A molecular structure analysis found that the conjugation of the aromatic substituents aryl, ferrocenyl (Fc), and triazinyl (Tz) finely tuned the coordination bonds around the Fe(0) center. The DSC/TG experiments found a remarkable thermal stability of CbTz,R-Fe-CO (3–6) with characteristic thermolysis temperatures (CTT) as high as 500 °C. The catalytic experiments demonstrated that the CTT of Cb-Fe-CO (2-6) overlapped with AP high-temperature decomposition (HTD). The thermal cross-coupling of HTD of AP and CTT of CbTz,Fc-Fe-CO (6) significantly augmented catalytic AP decomposition, resulting in a maximum energy release as high as 2828 J/g.