is illustrated by the equation for the detonation of nitroglycerin.

Illustrative of the highly sensitive nature of some organic nitrates is Si(CH₂ONO₂)₄. A single crystal of this compound detonates even upon contact with a teflon spatula and in fact made full characterization impossible. Another contributor to its exothermic decomposition (inferred from much safer in silico experimentation) is the ability of silicon in its crystal