Study of the Progress of Reaction in the Preparation of tetra-Functional GAP using FTIR Spectroscopy

Glycidyl azide polymer (GAP) with tetra hydroxyl functional groups or t-GAP is a potential energetic polymeric binder for application in both high energy propellants and high explosives. t-GAP is synthesized via azidation of the precursor tetrafunctional poly-epichlorohydrine (t-PECH) with sodium azide in DMSO solvent medium. In this article, process optimization and progress of chemical reaction for preparation of t-GAP is studied using FTIR spectroscopy and an attempt is made to predict the reaction kinetics with concentration profiling. The characteristic vibrational features corresponding to C‒N3 of t-GAP and C‒Cl of t-PECH have been used to monitor the progress of reaction.