Xylitol pentanitrate is a rarely used liquid explosive compound with extremely high viscosity formed by completely nitrating

Nitration

Nitration is a general chemical process for the introduction of a nitro group into a chemical compound. The dominant application of nitration is for the production of nitrobenzene, the precursor to methylene diphenyl diisocyanate...

 xylitol

Xylitol

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol sweetener used as a naturally occurring sugar substitute. It is found in the fibers of many fruits and vegetables, and can be extracted from various berries, oats, and mushrooms, as well as fibrous material such as corn husks and sugar cane bagasse, and birch...

, a sugar alcohol

Sugar alcohol

A sugar alcohol is a hydrogenated form of carbohydrate, whose carbonyl group has been reduced to a primary or secondary hydroxyl group . Sugar alcohols have the general formula Hn+1H, whereas sugars have HnHCO...

 compound with five carbon atoms. In pure form it is a white crystalline explosive, much like other fully nitrated polyols. However, during synthesis lower nitrated forms are produced, which produce a viscous liquid mixture that is hard to purify.

See also

• Mannitol hexanitrate
• Erythritol tetranitrate
  Erythritol tetranitrate
  Erythritol tetranitrate is an explosive compound chemically similar to PETN. It is however thought to be 1/3 more sensitive to friction and impact. ETN is not well known, but in recent years has been used by amateur experimenters to replace PETN in improvised detonation cord or in boosters to...
  
  
• Nitroglycerine
• Ethylene glycol dinitrate
• methyl nitrate
  Methyl nitrate
  Methyl nitrate is the methyl ester of nitric acid and has the chemical formula CH3NO3.Methyl nitrate is toxic and a sensitive explosive. It causes headaches when fumes are inhaled...