Hydrogenation of natural rubber having epoxy group

Hydrogenation of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) was performed to introduce hydroxyl group to hydrogenated natural rubber. The ENR was prepared by epoxidation of deproteinized natural rubber (DPNR) with peracetic acid in latex stage. Hydrogenation of epoxidized DPNR (EDPNR) was performed with p-toluenesulfonylhydrazide in p-xylene. The resulting product, hydrogenated EDPNR (HEDPNR), was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy with various pulse sequences, i.e., two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy, two-dimensional heteronuclear correlation measurements. Carbons linking up to hydroxyl group were assigned to be quaternary and tertiary groups. The HEDPNR was proved to be a polyolefine elastomer through differential scanning calorimetry.     

Mechanism of graft copolymerization of styrene onto deproteinized natural rubber

High conversion and high grafting efficiency attained by graft copolymerization of styrene onto deproteinized natural rubber (DPNR) was investigated with respect to the molecular weight of grafted polystyrene. The graft copolymerization was performed with tert-butyl hydroperoxide/tetraethylenepentamine as an initiator after deproteinization of natural rubber with urea. Grafted polystyrene was isolated from the resulting graft copolymer by ozonolysis reaction. After the ozonolysis of the graft copolymer of DPNR and polystyrene (DPNR-g-PS), the molecular weight of grafted polystyrene was determined by size exclusion chromatography. Effects of initiator and monomer concentrations were investigated with respect to the molecular weight of the grafted polystyrene, which was found to depend on not only the number of active site generated on the rubber particle but also the feed of styrene. Deactivation and chain transfer of the active sites were attributed to effective amount of styrene used for the graft copolymerization.     

High throughput automated chromatin immunoprecipitation as a platform for drug screening and antibody validation

Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is an assay for interrogating protein-DNA interactions that is increasingly being used for drug target discovery and screening applications. Currently the complexity of the protocol and the amount of hands-on time required for this assay limits its use to low throughput applications; furthermore, variability in antibody quality poses an additional obstacle in scaling up ChIP for large scale screening purposes. To address these challenges, we report HTChIP, an automated microfluidic-based platform for performing high-throughput ChIP screening measurements of 16 different targets simultaneously, with potential for further scale-up. From chromatin to analyzable PCR results only takes one day using HTChIP, as compared to several days up to one week for conventional protocols. HTChIP can also be used to test multiple antibodies and select the best performer for downstream ChIP applications, saving time and reagent costs of unsuccessful ChIP assays as a result of poor antibody quality. We performed a series of characterization assays to demonstrate that HTChIP can rapidly and accurately evaluate the epigenetic states of a cell, and that it is sensitive enough to detect the changes in the epigenetic state induced by a cytokine stimulant over a fine temporal resolution. With these results, we believe that HTChIP can introduce large improvements in routine ChIP, antibody screening, and drug screening efficiency, and further facilitate the use of ChIP as a valuable tool for research and discovery.     

Mechanism of the regio- and diastereoselective ring expansion reaction using trimethylsilyldiazomethane

An equatorial attack of TMS-diazomethane was determined to be the first step of the BF(3)-promoted ring expansion reaction of six-membered ketones using TMS-diazomethane. The migration reaction occurred in a conformation in which the carbonyl oxygen and the TMS group were antiperiplanar to predominantly afford trans-seven-membered ketones.     

Preparation and characterization of protein‐free natural rubber

Protein‐free natural rubber was prepared by incubation of natural rubber latex with urea and polar organic solvent in the presence of surfactant. Effect of the polar organic solvent on the removal of the proteins was investigated with respect to chemical affinity and concentration of the solvents. Under a suitable condition, nitrogen content of the deproteinized natural rubber (DPNR) was 0.000 wt%, which was less than that of natural rubber deproteinized with proteolytic enzyme or urea in the presence of surfactant. The removal of all proteins from natural rubber was proved through FT‐IR spectroscopy. Changes in morphology of the DPNR were also investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Visible light photocatalytic decomposition of 2-naphthol by anodic-biased alpha-Fe2O3 film

Transparent alpha-Fe2O3 films with varying film thickness were formed on a SnO2 transparent conducting film-coated glass substrate by metal organic deposition. Under anodic-biased conditions, the alpha-Fe2O3 film showed a high photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of 2-NAP with visible light irradiation. The alpha-Fe2O3 is transformed to inactive hydroxide as the reaction proceeds, while the activity of alpha-Fe2O3 is almost maintained in acetonitrile.     

An optimum design method for robotic tracked-vehicles operating over fresh concrete during straight-line motion

This paper addresses the general problem of the design of tracked base travel systems for special purpose vehicles and/or robotic machines that may be required to move over weak surfaces or over a lightly bonded terrain composed of fresh concrete. For the special case of a vehicle travelling on a very soft fresh concrete during construction, the paper presents detailed comparative studies of the tractive performance of several tracked vehicles with alternative slump values and mean contact pressure configurations. To complete these studies a detailed simulation-analytical method was used. From this, it was established that the simulation analysis method is useful for predicting land locomotion performance of specially designed small tracked vehicles running over fresh concrete of different consistencies during driving and braking action. This work was done for straight-line motion. Some possibilities for the real-time optimum control method of the tractive and braking performance of automated and robotic vehicles are also outlined.     

Polymacromonomers with polyolefin branches synthesized by free-radical homopolymerization of polyolefin macromonomer with a methacryloyl end group

Polymacromonomers with polyolefin branches were successfully synthesized by free-radical homopolymerization of polyolefin macromonomer with a methacryloyl end group. Propylene-ethylene random copolymer (PER) with a vinylidene end group was prepared by polymerization using a metallocene catalyst. Then, the unsaturated end group was converted to a hydroxy end group via hydroalumination and oxidation. The PER with the hydroxy end group was easily reacted with methacryloyl chloride to produce methacryloyl-terminated PER (PER macromonomer; PERM). The free-radical polymerization of thus-obtained PERM was done using 2,2′-azobis(isobutyronitorile) (AIBN) as a free-radical initiator. From NMR analyses, the obtained polymers were identified as poly(PERM). Based on gel permeation chromatography (GPC), the estimated degree of polymerization (D_p) of these polymers were about 30. Thus, new class of polymacromonomers with polyolefin branches was synthesized.     

New methodology for synthesizing polyolefinic graft block copolymers and their morphological features

This paper describes a new synthetic route for polyolefinic graft block copolymers by adopting coupling reaction between terminally hydroxylated polyolefins and maleic anhydride grafted polyolefins. Terminally hydroxylated polypropylene (PP-OH) was coupled with maleic anhydride modified polyethylene (PE-g-MAH) and such ethylene-propylene random copolymer (EPR-g-MAH) to give polyolefinic graft block copolymers (PE-g-PP and EPR-g-PP, respectively). The formation of PE-g-PP was confirmed by enhancement on molecular weight and it brought about distinctive decrease in size of dispersed domain in its phase separation morphology. Occurrence of coupling reaction to give EPR-g-PP was indicated by extreme decrease in its solubility to n-decane and it led to unique morphology demonstrating lamella microstructure that had never been reported for a comparable polyolefin composite.