P and H NMR studies of the transesterification polymerization of polyphosphonate oligomers

Polymeric phosphonate esters are an interesting class of organophosphorus polymers because both the polymer backbone and phosphorus substituents can be modified. These polymers have been prepared by ring-opening polymerizations of cyclic phosphites, stoichiometric polycondensations of dimethyl phosphonate with diols in conjunction with diazomethane treatment and by transesterification of polyphosphonate oligomers. Our initial attempts to prepare high molecular weight polymeric phosphonate esters by the transesterification methods were unsuccessful. Results indicate that the reactions of dimethyl phosphonate with diols to form polyphosphonate oligomers with only methyl phosphonate end groups are plagued by a serious side reaction that forms phosphonic acid end groups. These end groups do not participate in the transesterification reaction and limit the molecular weights of the polymers that can be obtained. The phosphonic acid end groups can be converted into reactive methyl phosphonate end groups by treatment with diazomethane, however diazomethane is explosive and the polymerization is slow. An alternative route for the production of high molecular weight polymers is the transesterification of the 1,12-bis(methyl phosphonato)dodecane, formed by the reaction of excess dimethyl phosphonate and 1,12-dodecanediol, with a Na₂CO₃ promoter. This allows polymers with molecular weights of up to 4.5×10⁴ to be prepared, and no phosphonic acid end groups are observed in these polymers. Thermal analyses of the poly(1,12-dodecamethylene phosphonate) have shown that this polymer has reasonable thermal stability (onset of thermal decomposition at 273 °C). This polymer also undergoes a cold crystallization process at 15 °C similar to that which has been observed in some polyesters, polyamides and elastomers.     

alpha-thiocyanation of carbonyl and beta-dicarbonyl compounds using (dichloroiodo)benzene-lead(II) thiocyanate

The combination reagent (dichloroiodo)benzene and lead(II) thiocyanate in dichloromethane effects oxidation of various enol silyl ethers, ketene silyl acetals, and beta-dicarbonyl compounds, thereby providing an efficient and convenient method for alpha-thiocyanation of carbonyl and beta-dicarbonyl compounds.     

Spectrophotometric and potentiometric studies of oxovanadium(IV) chelates with Eriochrome black T and Solochrome black 6 BN

Vanadium(IV) forms colored chelates with Erio T and Solo 6 BN (λ_max 570 and 580 nm, respectively) at pH 3.8. The composition MR₂ of the chelates investigated was established by continuous variation, mole ratio, slope ratio and straight-line methods spectrophotometrically. For photometric determination of V(IV) with these reagents Sandell's sensitivity, Beer's law range, Ringbom optimum range were also determined. Bjerrum and Calvin potentiometric titration technique was employed to determine the stepwise formation constants of each system. For V(IV)-Erio T system values of log K₁ = 14.4, log K₂ = 10.9 and for V(IV)-Solo 6 BN system log K₁ = 16.1, log K₂ = 11.8 were obtained.     

Nafion-H catalysed sulfonylation of aromatics with arene/alkenesulfonic acids for the preparation of sulfones1a

Synthesis of both symmetric and unsymmetric diaryl/aryl alkyl sulfones is easily achieved by Friedel-Crafts type sulfonylation of aromatics with suitable arene- or alkane-sulfonic acids in the presence of Nafion-H, a perfluorinated resinsulfonic acid catalyst.     

Studies with model membranes

Summary Thermodynamic effective fixed charge densities of mercuric phosphate and carbonate parchment supported membranes were evaluated by a number of methods particularly those ofTeorell-Meyer-Sievers, Altug andHair andKobatake et al. The value of the permselectivity was obtained for the two membranes based onKobatake et al. procedure. Membrane transport number was calculated using a modified Nernst relation and compared with the values determined by the TMS method. The theoretical predictions for membrane potential usingKobatake et al. equation are borne out quite satisfactorily by our experimental results for both membrane.

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Zusammenfassung Es wurden die Dichte der fixierten Ladungen von Quecksilberphosphat und Quecksilberkarbonat-Niederschlagsmembranen nach den Methoden vonTorell-Meyer-Sievers, Altug undHair undKobatake bestimmt. Weiterhin wurden Durchlässigkeit und Transportzahlen ermittelt und mit Werten der TMS-Methode verglichen. Theoretische Voraussagen über das Membranpotential nach den Gleichungen vonKobatake stimmen mit den experimentellen Ergebnissen überein.

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With 8 figures and 3 tables     

Expected and unexpected results from combined beta-hairpin design elements

A model beta-hairpin dodecapeptide [EFGWVpGKWTIK] was designed by including a favorable D-ProGly Type II' beta-turn sequence and a Trp-zip interaction, while also incorporating a beta-strand unfavorable glycine residue in the N-terminal strand. This peptide is highly folded and monomeric in aqueous solution as determined by combined analysis with circular dichroism and 1H NMR spectroscopy. A peptide representing the folded conformation of the model beta-hairpin [cyclic(EFGWVpGKWTIKpG)] and a linear peptide representing the unfolded conformation [EFGWVPGKWTIK] yield unexpected relative deviations between the CD and 1H NMR spectroscopic results that are attributed to variations in the packing interactions of the aromatic side chains. Mutational analysis of the model beta-hairpin indicates that the Trp-zip interaction favors folding and stability relative to an alternate hydrophobic cluster between Trp and Tyr residues [EFGYVpGKWTIK]. The significance of select diagonal interactions in the model beta-hairpin was tested by rearranging the cross-strand hydrophobic interactions to provide a folded peptide [EWFGIpGKTYWK] displaying evidence of an unusual backbone conformation at the hydrophobic cluster. This unusual conformation does not appear to be a result of the glycine residue in the beta-strand, as replacement with a serine results in a peptide [EWFSIpGKTYWK] with a similar and seemingly characteristic CD spectrum. However, an alternate arrangement of hydrophobic residues with a Trp-zip interaction in a similar position to the parent beta-hairpin [EGFWVpGKWITK] results in a folded beta-hairpin conformation. The differences between side chain packing of these peptides precludes meaningful thermodynamic analysis and illustrates the caution necessary when interpreting beta-hairpin folding thermodynamics that are driven, at least in part, by aromatic cross strand interactions.     

Universal consequences of the presence of excluded volume interactions in dilute polymer solutions undergoing shear flow

The role of solvent quality in determining the universal material properties of dilute polymer solutions undergoing steady simple shear flow is examined. A bead-spring chain representation of the polymer molecule is used, and the influence of solvent molecules on polymer conformations is modelled by a narrow Gaussian excluded volume potential that acts pairwise between the beads of the chain. Brownian dynamics simulations data, acquired for chains of finite length, and extrapolated to the limit of infinite chain length, are shown to be model independent. This feature of the narrow Gaussian potential, which leads to results identical to a delta-function repulsive potential, enables the prediction of both universal crossover scaling functions and asymptotic behavior in the excluded volume limit. Universal viscometric functions, obtained by this procedure, are found to exhibit increased shear thinning with increasing solvent quality. In the excluded volume limit, they are found to obey power law scaling with the characteristic shear rate beta, in close agreement with previously obtained renormalization group results. The presence of excluded volume interactions is also shown to lead to a weakening of the alignment of the polymer chain with the flow direction.     

Bond Prices Under Information Asymmetry and a Short Rate with Instantaneous Feedback

Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability - We study an information asymmetry problem in a bond market. Especially we derive bond price dynamics of traders with different levels of...     

Three-particle interactions in a quark-gluon plasma

We explore the influence of three-particle interactions, in either the initial or final state, on the collision rate in a high temperature plasma, and on the rate of quark and anti-quark pair (flavor) production. When the interactions are taken to be screened at the Debye wave numberq dT, three-particle interactions contribute significantly to the collision rate, but only marginally enhance flavor production over that from two-particle interactions. The magnitudes of the rates are, however, sensitive to the infra-red thresholds, which emphasizes the need for a reliable analysis of this issue. Our results also highlight the importance of treating many-particle processes adequately in the space-time evolution of quarks and gluons produced in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions.We thank members of the Theoretical Physics Institute and the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota for their kind hospitality. Special thanks are due to J.I. Kapusta for stimulating discussions. The stay of P. L. at the University of Minnesota was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under grant No. DOE/DE-FG02-87ER-40328; travel expenses were borne by the grant MM SR 01/35. Research support for M. P. by the U.S. Department of Energy under grant No. DE-FG02-88ER-40388 is acknowledged. The paper was written in its final form at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Santa Barbara, during the research program Strong Interactions at Finite Temperatures. The authors express gratitude for the warm hospitality extended there and acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY89-04035.