Zwitterionic Energetic Compound Based on <i>N</i> ‐Acetamidinium Functionalized Nitroimino‐tetrazole: Towards High‐Performance and Stability

In this work, an advanced high-performing zwitterionic compound (E)-4-(2-amino-2-iminioethyl)-5-(nitroimino)-4,5-dihydrotetrazol-1-ide (3) was achieved, where negatively charged nitroimino-tetrazolate moiety is linked with positively charged acetamidinium group via N-functionalization technique. A comparative study was also carried out to justify the superlative properties of compound 3 (T_d = 152 °C; ρ = 1.83 g cm^-3; D_v = 8823 m s^-1) with respect to its salt analogue 5 (T_d = 90 °C; ρ = 1.65 g cm^-3; D_v = 8183 m s^-1), which exhibited adequate thermal stability and excellent energetic performances. Additionally, the zwitterionic structure of 3 was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray analysis and differences in overall stability was investigated using electrostatic potential (ESP) and reduced density gradient (RDG) analysis, relative to the neutral nitroimino-tetrazole (NATz).