Key words: supercritical water, unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, UDMH, pyrolysis,rocket fuel, transformation, high-resolution mass spectrometry
The behavior of a highly toxic rocket fuel — 1,1-dimethylhydrazine — in a medium of
supercritical water in the temperature range 400—650 °C has been studied by highresolution
mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization. It was found that thermal
transformation leads to the formation of a wide range of products, numbering at least
350—400 nitrogen-containing compounds of CHN and CHNO-classes. The main
products are nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds containing from one to three
nitrogen atoms. On the basis of the accurate masses, the supposed identification of the
most important components was given. It was shown that at the temperature of 650 °C
1-methyl-1H-1,2,4-triazole predominates among the transformation products, the
amount of which in the reaction mixture is 1.2% of the weight of the initial UDNH.
doi:10.1134/S1990793119070157