Well‐defined polyoxazoline‐based alkoxyamines as efficient macroinitiators in nitroxide‐mediated radical polymerization of styrene

The synthesis of two well‐defined 2,2,5‐trimethyl‐4‐phenyl‐3‐azahexane‐3‐nitroxide‐terminated poly(2‐methyl‐2‐oxazoline) with narrow dispersity (M_w/M_n = 1.1) has been achieved for the first time. The insertion of the alkoxyamine end groups at one or both ends of poly(2‐methyl‐2‐oxazoline) (PMEOX) chains has been successfully done using a method based on “terminating reagent method.” These macroinitiators have molecular weights ranging from 6.3 × 10³ to 9.4 × 10³ g mol^?1. In contrast, attempt to introduce the alkoxyamine group at one end of PMEOX chain through the “initiator method” has furnished a mixture of alkoxyamine‐graft polyoxazolines because of rearrangement of alkoxyamine occurring during the synthesis of PMEOX. The macroinitiators obtained by terminating reagent method have been used successfully for polymerization of styrene by nitroxide‐mediated radical polymerization (NMP), which exhibited all the expected features of a controlled system. The control of NMP has been proved by a good agreement between theoretical and experimental molecular weights and by narrow dispersity (M_w/M_n < 1.2). Different types of well‐defined multiblock copolymers have been prepared: diblock copolymers poly[(2‐methyl‐2‐oxazoline)‐b‐(styrene)] (PMEOX‐b‐PS) and, for the first time, triblock copolymers poly[(styrene)‐b‐(2‐methyl‐2‐oxazoline)‐b‐(styrene)] (PS‐b‐PMEOX‐b‐PS). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011.     

Are o‐nitrobenzyl (meth)acrylate monomers polymerizable by controlled‐radical polymerization?

We report on the controlled‐radical polymerization of the photocleavable o‐nitrobenzyl methacrylate (NBMA) and o‐nitrobenzyl acrylate (NBA) monomers. Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT), and nitroxide‐mediated polymerization (NMP) have been evaluated. For all methods used, the acrylate‐type monomer does not polymerize, or polymerizes very slowly in a noncontrolled manner. The methacrylate‐type monomer can be polymerized by RAFT with some degree of control (PDI ∼ 1.5) but leading to molar masses up to 11,000 g/mol only. ATRP proved to be the best method since a controlled‐polymerization was achieved when conversions are limited to 30%. In this case, polymers with molar masses up to 17,000 g/mol and polydispersity index as low as 1.13 have been obtained. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 6504–6513, 2009     

Controlled Positioning of Activated Ester Moieties on Well‐Defined Linear Polymer Chains

The successful sequence‐controlled installation of an activated ester using a newly designed monomer pentafluorophenyl 4‐maleimidobenzoate is demonstrated. Pentafluorophenyl 4‐maleimidobenzoate is kinetically installed at different stages of a nitroxide‐mediated polymerization, namely, near the α‐chain end and in the middle of a PS chain. In addition, successful installation of apolar and polar functional groups is achieved via post‐polymerization functionalization, which demonstrated the versatility of the synthesis of a universal precursor for locally functionalized polymers.     

Kinetic Modeling as a Tool to Understand and Improve the Nitroxide Mediated Polymerization of Styrene

Kinetic modeling is used to obtain insight in the complex interplay between reaction rates and obtained polymer properties in the SG1 and the TEMPO mediated bulk polymerization of styrene at 396 K. The increase of the viscosity during NMP is accounted for. At higher targeted chain lengths, chain transfer to dimer and transfer from nitroxide to dimer are shown to cause the experimentally observed reduced control over the average polymer properties and to result in a clear fronting of the polymer chain length distribution. The potential of kinetic modeling to design tailor‐made synthesis strategies is illustrated. Simulations indicate that careful control of the polymerization conditions allows to obtain an important improvement of the polymer properties. The approach is also applicable for NMP mediated by other alkoxyamines/nitroxides and allows to expand the application range of NMP for styrene polymerization in particular to synthesize complex polymer architectures by assembly of functionalized polymers.

     

Amphiphilic Poly(4‐acryloylmorpholine)/Poly[2‐(N‐carbazolyl)ethyl acrylate] Random and Block Copolymers Synthesized by NMP

A series of random copolymers and block copolymers containing water‐soluble 4AM and fluorescent VAK are synthesized by NMP. The homopolymerizations of 4AM and VAK and 4AM/VAK random copolymerization are performed in 50 wt% DMF using 10 mol% SG1, resulting in a linear increase in versus conversion, and final polymers with narrow molecular weight distributions ( < 1.4). Reactivity ratios r_VAK = 0.64 ± 0.52 and r_4AM = 0.86 ± 0.66 are obtained for the 4AM/VAK random copolymerization. In addition, a poly(4AM) macroinitiator is used to initiate a surfactant‐free suspension polymerization of VAK. After 2.5 h, the resulting amphiphilic block copolymer has = 12.6 kg · mol^?1, = 1.48, molar composition F_VAK = 0.38 with latex particle sizes between 270 and 475 nm.

     

Estimating molecular masses of petroleum-derived fractions: High mass (>2000 u) materials in maltenes and asphaltenes from Maya crude oil

Molecular mass ranges and average masses of fractions from a heavy Mexican crude oil (Maya) have been studied, using mainly size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and laser desorption-mass spectrometry (LD-MS). Method development focused on the use of planar chromatography and size exclusion chromatography (SEC), to isolate narrow bands of material from solubility-separated fractions of the crude oil. The procedure provides a planar chromatography based method for studying mass ranges in complex hydrocarbon mixtures. It allows the calculation of ‘best estimate’ values for number and mass-averages. These can then be used in average structural parameter (ASP) calculations, for studying structural features of the samples. The method is applicable to both coal and petroleum-derived samples. The molecular mass estimates arrived at in this work for petroleum-derived samples are considerably higher than those reported by other workers for similar samples. The results presented here provide strong evidence for the presence of ions approaching m/z 10,000 in the Maya asphaltene. The maltene fraction was found to contain a small amount of ions with mass (m/z) in excess of 2000.     

Multicomponent Domino Process for the Synthesis of Some Novel Benzo[a]chromenophenazine Fused Ring Systems Using H2SO4, Phosphotungstic Acid,and [NMP]H2PO4

Efficient, mild, and quantitative procedures for the synthesis of functionalized benzo[c]chromeno[2,3-a]phenazine derivatives by one-pot, four-component condensation of 2-hydroxynaphthalene-1,4-dione, 1,2-phenylenediamines, aromatic aldehydes, and cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds have been developed using catalytic amounts of H₂SO₄ and phosphotungstic acid in EtOH/H₂O (1:1) under reflux and also with [NMP]H₂PO₄, which acts as catalyst and medium at 80 °C. The reaction avoids tedious workup procedure due to the direct precipitation of products from the reaction medium. The present finding provides promising synthetic strategies for the synthesis of libraries with functional group diversity.     

A Highly Efficient Synthesis of Sulphonamide Derivatives in the Presence of N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone

The sulphonamide derivatives are synthesized by two component condensation of alkyl bromide and sodium arylsulphonamide using N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as a reaction medium. This method results in high yields without the formation of unwanted side products, and expanding substrate scopes.     

Design of high stability thin-film transistor biosensor for the diagnosis of bladder cancer

Bladder cancer is the most common malignant tumor in the urinary system,with high morbidity,mortality and recurrence after surgery.However,current bladder cancer urine diagnosis methods are limited by the low accuracy and specificity due to the low abundance of bladder cancer biomarkers in the urine with complex biological environments.Herein,we present a high stability indium gallium zinc oxide field effect transistor(IGZO-FET) biosensor for efficient identification of bladder cancer biomarkers from human urine samples.The recognition molecular functionalized IGZO-FET biosensor exhibits stable electronic and sensing performance due to the large-area fabrication of IGZO thin-film FET.Owing to the excellent electrical performance of IGZO-FET,the IGZO-FET biosensor exhibits high sensitivity and extremely low detection limit(2.7 amol/L) towards bladder cancer biomarkers.The IGZO-FET biosensor is also able to directly detect bladder tumor biomarker in human urine with high sensitivity and specificity,and could differentiate bladder cancer patients' urine samples from healthy donors effectively.These results indicate that our designed high-performance biosensor shows great potential in the application of portable digital bladder cancer diagnosis devices.     

Synthesis and gas transport properties of ODPA-TAP-ODA hyperbranched polyimides with various comonomer ratios

A series of hyperbranched copolyimides (HBPI)s based on commercially available monomers 4,4′-oxydiphthalic anhydride (ODPA), 2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine (TAP) and 4,4′-oxydianiline (ODA) were prepared. The synthesis involved the formation of hyperbranched polyamic acid (PAA) precursors in the first step and the thermal imidization of cast thin PAA films in the second step. Two basic types of HBPIs were prepared by controlling the molar ratio of ODPA and an amine mixture of TAP and ODA. When the molar ratio was 1:1, the amine-terminated HBPIs were obtained; with the molar ratio of 2:1 anhydride-terminated HBPIs were prepared. Degree of branching was estimated by ¹H and ¹³C NMR analysis. It was found that approximately 48% of TAP units presented in ODPA:TAP:ODA = 1:0.75:0.25 HBPI macromolecules create the branching unit. Amine-terminated HBPIs showed moderate weight-average molecular weights and these values rather higher than for the anhydride-terminated HBPIs. With increasing ODA comonomer content in amine-terminated HBPIs increased their molecular weight and thermal and mechanical stability, whereas in anhydride-terminated HBPIs these trends were opposite. Amine-terminated HBPIs generally exhibited higher thermal stability than the anhydride-terminated ones. Gas permeability coefficients of both HBPIs types increased with increasing content of ODA comonomer. Prepared membranes exhibited high separation performance and have a potential to be utilized in industrial gas separation applications.