Phlegmatization of highly sensitive explosives for use in explosive detection dog training

The starting point of this topic is the threat of terrorist bomb attacks. Peroxide explosives such as triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD) are among the so-called self-laboratory products that can be produced in large quantities with household chemicals with little effort. Both substances react sensitively to impact, friction, heat and sparks and even small quantities are associated with high risk. Trained sniffer dogs are able to detect the explosives used by terrorists. The aim was to develop a procedure to convert TATP or HMTD into a safe form for handling. In order to be considered for training of explosive detection dogs, the desensitized samples of TATP and HMTD should not influence the odor signature of the organic peroxides to avoid imprinting for additional substances. While commercial organic peroxide training aids are provided for handling in mg range, this desensitized variant allows the handling with significant amounts of desensitized peroxide explosives. Both TATP and HMTD could be phlegmatized by coprecipitation with active charcoal resulting in mixtures with a nominal content of 40 wt-% (d40-TATP) and 10 wt-% (d10-HMTD), respectively. Headspace SPME-GC/MS measurements revealed that the active charcoal does not contribute to the vapor profile of the training aid.