Trinitroanisole Manufacturer & Supplier

BÖRÜ Defense is a manufacturer and supplier of Trinitroanisole, serving defence industry customers worldwide from Karatay/Konya, TÜRKİYE. Every delivery comes with a certificate of analysis and a safety data sheet, together with the export documentation its destination requires.

What is Trinitroanisole?

Trinitroanisole (2,4,6-trinitroanisole, CAS 606-35-9) is a pale yellow crystalline nitroaromatic compound used as a secondary high explosive and as an energetic raw material in the defence industry. It is also written Tri Nitro Anisole or Tri Nitro Anisol, abbreviated TNAN, and known in older literature as methyl picrate, because it is the methyl ether of picric acid. All of these names refer to the same substance with the molecular formula C₇H₅N₃O₇.

Trinitroanisole belongs to the same family as TNT and picric acid: an aromatic ring carrying three nitro groups. Its low melting point allows it to be processed as a melt-cast material, which is why it attracted military attention in the first half of the twentieth century and why it is still studied today. If you are looking for a Tri Nitro Anisole manufacturer and supplier, or trinitroanisole for sale, you can contact the BÖRÜ Defense team.

Chemical Structure and Properties of Trinitroanisole

The trinitroanisole molecule consists of a benzene ring with a methoxy group (–OCH₃) at position 1 and nitro groups (–NO₂) at positions 2, 4 and 6. Its molecular formula is C₇H₅N₃O₇ and its molar mass is about 243.13 g/mol. Structurally it differs from picric acid only in that the acidic hydroxyl hydrogen is replaced by a methyl group, so the compound itself is not acidic.

At room temperature it forms pale yellow crystals that melt at roughly 68 °C, noticeably below the melting point of TNT. It is practically insoluble in cold water and dissolves in common organic solvents such as acetone and benzene. The methoxy group is activated by the three nitro groups and can be slowly split off by water or alkalis, giving picric acid or picrates. This reactivity explains both the storage behaviour and the limitations of the material.

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Trinitroanisole Manufacturer

Why choose us for trinitroanisole?

• Defence-Grade Laboratory
• Experience
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• Right on Time

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History of Trinitroanisole

Trinitroanisole has been known since the mid-nineteenth century. Its first description is generally credited to the French chemist Auguste Cahours, who studied anisole and its nitro derivatives. For decades it remained a laboratory compound, overshadowed by picric acid and later by TNT.

Military interest grew in the early twentieth century, when armies were looking for shell fillings that were less acidic than picric acid and could be melt-cast. Germany examined and used trinitroanisole in some munitions, and Japan adopted it as a filling for naval ordnance in the period before and during the Second World War. After 1945 most countries standardised on TNT-based and later RDX- and HMX-based compositions, and trinitroanisole lost its place in service. In recent decades, research on less sensitive, melt-castable alternatives to TNT has brought nitroanisoles back into the technical literature, and TNAN is again being evaluated as a candidate carrier material.

What are the Uses of Trinitroanisole?

The main use of trinitroanisole is as a secondary high explosive for military fillings. Because it melts well below 100 °C, it can serve as a melt-cast carrier in which other, higher-melting energetic solids are dispersed. Historically it was loaded into shells, aerial bombs and other large munitions, either alone or together with other explosives.

Today its role is mainly in research and development. Defence laboratories study TNAN within programmes on insensitive munitions and on replacements for TNT in melt-cast systems, alongside related compounds such as 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN). It is also used as a reference substance in analytical and environmental studies of nitroaromatic compounds, and as an intermediate in the chemistry of picric acid derivatives. Trinitroanisole has no consumer applications. It is supplied only to licensed defence, research and industrial users, under the explosives and export-control regulations of the countries involved.

The Advantages of Trinitroanisole:

• Its low melting point, around 68 °C, allows melt-cast processing with moderate heating, in the same way as TNT.
• Unlike picric acid it has no acidic hydroxyl group, so the dry, pure material does not attack metals directly.
• Its explosive performance is in the same general class as TNT, which makes it a realistic candidate wherever a TNT-like carrier is needed.
• For a high explosive it is relatively insensitive to impact and friction, comparable with other trinitro-aromatic compounds.
• The research literature describes it as a workable molten carrier for higher-melting energetic solids.
• Its chemistry has been documented for more than a century, so its stability, ageing and decomposition behaviour are well understood.
• Established analytical methods for nitroaromatic compounds can be applied to it without modification, which simplifies quality control.

The Disadvantages of Trinitroanisole:

• In the presence of moisture it slowly hydrolyses to picric acid, which can then form shock-sensitive picrates in contact with metals such as lead, copper or iron. Dry storage is essential.
• It is toxic and a strong skin irritant. Contact has been reported to cause dermatitis and eczema-like reactions, which was one of the main reasons it fell out of favour.
• The low melting point is also a drawback: fillings may soften or exude in hot climates.
• It reacts with alkalis and amines, so it is incompatible with alkaline materials.
• Like other nitroaromatic compounds it is regarded as an environmental contaminant, and waste and wash water require controlled treatment.
• It is a regulated explosive. Production, transport, storage and export are subject to licensing, which limits who may purchase it.
• Far less modern qualification data is available for it than for TNT or DNAN, so new users must plan their own testing.

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Page last reviewed:2026-09-17