Contemplation on the protonation of TEX

The possibility of acid catalyzed decomposition of TEX, a well known explosive, is considered by investigating the stability of cations formed by protonation at different sites in the molecule. For this purpose, density functional theory has been employed at the B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) and B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) levels. Various simple cations, as well as hydrogen-bridged cations of TEX and carbocations formed from protonated TEX, are considered which may undergo further acid catalyzed cleavage routes of the molecule.