Observations and sources of carbon and nitrogen isotope ratio variation of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN)

Isotope ratio analysis allows forensic investigators to discriminate materials that are chemically identical but differ in their isotope ratios. Here we focused on the discrimination of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), an explosive with military and civilian applications, using carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratios. Our goal was to understand some of the factors influencing the isotope ratios of commercially manufactured PETN. PETN was isolated from bulk explosives using preparative HPLC, which reduced chemical and isotopic within-sample variability. We observed isotope ratio variation in a survey of 175 PETN samples from 22 manufacturing facilities, with δ13C values ranging from −49.7‰ to −28.0‰ and δ15N values ranging from −48.6‰ to +6.2‰. Both within-sample variability and variation of PETN within an explosive block were much smaller than between-sample variations. Isotopic ratios of PETN were shown to discriminate explosive blocks from the same manufacturer, whereas explosive component composition measurements by HPLC were not able to do so. Using samples collected from three industrial PETN manufacturers, we investigated the isotopic relationship between PETN and its reactants, pentaerythritol (PE) and nitric acid. Our observations showed that δ13C values of PETN were indistinguishable from that of the reactant pentaerythritol. Isotopic separation between nitric acid and PETN was consistent within each sampled manufacturer but differed among manufacturers, and was likely dependent upon reaction conditions. These data indicate that δ13C variation in PETN is dependent on δ13C variation of PE supplies, while δ15N variation in PETN is due to both nitric acid δ15N and reaction conditions.