The use of ultra high-performance liquid chromatography for studying hydrolysis kinetics of CL-20 and related energetic compounds

Ultra high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) utilizes columns packed with sub-2-μm stationary-phase particles and allows operation with pressures of up to 15,000 psi to yield increased resolution, speed, and sensitivity versus conventional HPLC. This promising new technology was used for the analysis of energetic compounds (RDX, HMX and CL-20) and a selective method was developed on an Acquity UPLC™. A fast UHPLC method was applied to determine alkaline hydrolysis reaction kinetics of major energetic compounds. Activation energies of alkaline hydrolysis reaction for CL-20, RDX and HMX were comparable to those in literature, however they were determined in a shorter amount of time due to the speed of analysis of the chromatographic method. The use of liophilic salts (KPF6) as mobile-phase additives for the enhancement of separation selectivity of energetic compounds was demonstrated.