The chemical structures,syntheses,properties,and applications of benzofuroxan compounds are reviewed. This paper mainly consists of three parts. The first part describes three synthetic routes used for benzofuroxans,i.e. thermolysis or photolysis of o-nitro-azidobenzene and its derivatives,oxidation of o-nitroaniline and its derivatives and oxidation,oximation and cyclization of oxophenic acid .The second part summarizes the property data of 17 benzofuroxans,including density,melting point,decomposition temperature,detonation velocity and detonation pressure etc. The third part gives some examples of benzofuroxan compounds′ application in primary explosives,PBXs,and propellants. In addition,the authors have put forward a few proposals concerning the further researches on benzofuroxan explosives.