Editing Nitrocellulose (section)

==Production==
The process uses a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid to convert cellulose into nitrocellulose.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How to make flash paper and flash cotton from household products|url=https://vadcpa.com/Val/Projects.php|access-date=2022-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125135316/https://vadcpa.com/Val/Projects.php|archive-date=2022-01-25|language=en}}</ref> The quality of the cellulose is important. [[Hemicellulose]], [[lignin]], [[pentosan]]s, and [[mineral salt]]s give inferior nitrocelluloses. In organic chemistry, nitrocellulose is a [[nitrate ester]], not a [[nitro compound]]. The [[glucose]] repeat unit (anhydroglucose) within the cellulose chain has three OH groups, each of which can form a nitrate ester. Thus, nitrocellulose can denote '''mononitrocellulose''', '''dinitrocellulose''', and '''trinitrocellulose''', or a mixture thereof. With fewer OH groups than the parent cellulose, nitrocelluloses do not aggregate by [[hydrogen bonding]].  The overarching consequence is that the nitrocellulose is soluble in organic solvents such as [[acetone]] and esters; e.g., [[ethyl acetate]], [[methyl acetate]], [[ethyl carbonate]].<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/C2013-0-13473-3 |title=Wildlife Toxicity Assessments for Chemicals of Military Concern |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-12-800020-5 |editor1-first=Marc A. |editor1-last=Williams |editor2-first=Gunda |editor2-last=Reddy |editor3-first=Michael J. |editor3-last=Quinn, Jr. |editor4-first=Mark S. |editor4-last=Johnson }}{{pn|date=November 2024}}</ref> Most lacquers are prepared from the dinitrate, whereas explosives are mainly the trinitrate.<ref name=Ull>{{Ullmann |doi=10.1002/14356007.a05_419.pub2|title=Cellulose Esters|year=2004|last1=Balser|first1=Klaus|last2=Hoppe|first2=Lutz|last3=Eicher|first3=Theo|last4=Wandel|first4=Martin|last5=Astheimer|first5=Hans‐Joachim|last6=Steinmeier|first6=Hans|last7=Allen|first7=John M.|isbn=978-3-527-30385-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Urbanski|first=Tadeusz|title=Chemistry and Technology of Explosives|publisher=Pergamon Press|location=Oxford|date=1965|volume=1|pages=20–21}}</ref>

The chemical equation for the formation of the trinitrate is
{{indent|5}}{{chem2|3 HNO3 + C6H7(OH)3O2}} {{overset|{{chem2|H2SO4}}|{{chem2|->}}}} {{chem2|C6H7(ONO<sub>2</sub>)3O2 + 3 H2O}}.

The yields are about 85%, with losses attributed to complete [[oxidation]] of the cellulose to [[oxalic acid]].