Diazodinitrophenol (DDNP) was the first diazo compound produced; it was subsequently used to make dyes and explosives.

DDNP is used with other materials to form priming mixtures, particularly where a high sensitivity to flame or heat is desired.

DDNP is often used as an initiating explosive in propellant primer devices and is a substitute for lead styphnate in what are termed "green" or "non-toxic" (lead free) priming explosive compositions.

[6] It was among the first diazo compounds and for a long time thereafter it was used as a starting material for dyes.

[7] Although Griess had mentioned in 1859 that diazodinitrophenol exploded upon heating,[8] it was not until 1892 that diazodinitrophenol was first used as an explosive – when Wilhelm Will[9] and Friedrich Lenze, German chemists at the Militär-Versuchsamt (military research office) in Spandau, Germany, began to investigate azides as potential initiators of explosives.