Role of -SF5 Groups in Modulating the Stability and Energy Characteristics of Fluorinated Molecules

In this paper, we present our investigations into the detonation performance and stability variations caused by replacing the -CF3 or -OCF3 group with -SF5. The widely applied DFT B3LYP/cc-pVTZ approach was employed to evaluate the HOMO–LUMO gap, cohesive energy, chemical hardness, and electronegativity. Based on these parameters, we predict the changes in chemical and thermal stability resulting from the inclusion of -SF5 instead of -CF3 or -OCF3. Our results indicate that, in some cases, the density of fluorine-containing nitro compounds decreases due to the presence of the pentafluorosulfanyl group. Additionally, machine learning techniques were used to determine the detonation pressure and velocity of fluorine–sulfur-containing compounds. Our findings suggest that fluorine-containing nitro compounds exhibit better detonation performance and stability than fluorine–sulfur-containing ones. Overall, the pentafluorosulfanyl groups inclusion of aromatic polynitro compounds improved neither the stability nor the detonation properties such as -CF3 or -OCF3 groups.