A control of primary structure in the products of macromolecular reactions

Basing on the theory of macromolecular reactions, an influence of various factors on a units' distribution (UD) of the forming macromolecules is considered. In diluted solutions UD is determined by a competition between external reagent and intrachain interaction of reacted and unreacted units, first by neighbor effect. Should accelerating action of remote units is commensurable with that of nearest neighbors, such a conformational effect enlarges the formation of alternating sequences. In a melt, interchain effect shifts UD to a random one. In a polymer blend consisting of reacting and non-reacting but influencing the reactivity components, UD of transforming macromolecules is formed under concerted action of the reaction and interdiffusion. Thus modern achievements of the theory permit to analyze peculiarities of a wide set of reaction systems and facilitate a choice of optimal conditions for the preparation of tailor-made macromolecules.     

Catalytic conversion reactions mediated by single-file diffusion in linear nanopores: hydrodynamic versus stochastic behavior

We analyze the spatiotemporal behavior of species concentrations in a diffusion-mediated conversion reaction which occurs at catalytic sites within linear pores of nanometer diameter. Diffusion within the pores is subject to a strict single-file (no passing) constraint. Both transient and steady-state behavior is precisely characterized by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of a spatially discrete lattice-gas model for this reaction-diffusion process considering various distributions of catalytic sites. Exact hierarchical master equations can also be developed for this model. Their analysis, after application of mean-field type truncation approximations, produces discrete reaction-diffusion type equations (mf-RDE). For slowly varying concentrations, we further develop coarse-grained continuum hydrodynamic reaction-diffusion equations (h-RDE) incorporating a precise treatment of single-file diffusion in this multispecies system. The h-RDE successfully describe nontrivial aspects of transient behavior, in contrast to the mf-RDE, and also correctly capture unreactive steady-state behavior in the pore interior. However, steady-state reactivity, which is localized near the pore ends when those regions are catalytic, is controlled by fluctuations not incorporated into the hydrodynamic treatment. The mf-RDE partly capture these fluctuation effects, but cannot describe scaling behavior of the reactivity.     

Evolutional kinetics of metal-polymer complexes formation

Under the conditions of polydental binding, metal ions couple azacrown ether links of the polymer, limiting segmental chain mobility and decreasing statistical weight of the states available for complex formation. According to the rate constant dependence on conversion extent two different regimes of the complex formation reaction may be given: 1) retardation resulting from decreasing reactivity, the measured rate constant decreases by a few orders of magnitude in the course of time; 2) retardation followed by increasing reactivity, the observed rate constant remains unchangeable. The process covering conformational nonequilibrium states of macromolecular coil makes it dependent on the system prehistory which violates the law of mass action. The couplings being labile, the instantaneous value of pseudomonomolecular rate constant of the reaction is a function of conversion extent on metal and is not dependent on absolute polymer uptake by metal. The reaction rate in each point does not depend only on reagents concentration ratio but also on the character of metal ion distribution along the polymer chain obtained to the given moment. At complex formation with “hard” couplings the increase of metal concentration makes the effective retardation of the process change, whereas initial parts of the kinetic curves remain practically the same. In this system pseudomonomolecular rate constant does not seem to be a function of conversion extent, but is defined by absolute quantity of the formerly bound metal. Formal application of the law of mass action in this case is useless, it is necessary to apply distribution function on reactivity. Unlike solid phase systems nonequivalent character of reaction sites in the polymer is of evolution character, i.e.it arises in the course of the reaction on the account of polymer coil conformation change.     

Calculation of molecular weight distribution in a batch thermal polymerization of styrene

Molecular weight averages have long been used as a measure of polymer molecular weight properties in industrial polymer manufacturing processes. With a kinetic model, it is possible to directly calculate the polymer chain length distribution by integrating an infinite number of the polymer population balance equations. However, when the polymer chain length is very large, such a direct integration of polymer population balance equations can be computationally demanding. In this paper, the method of finite molecular weight moments is applied to the calculation of polymer chain length distribution in a batch free radical thermal polymerization of styrene. The weight fraction of a finite chain length interval is directly calculated in conjunction with a kinetic model. The method of calculation is illustrated through model simulations.     

Structure of a self-assembled hydrogen-bonded ‘living’ main chain liquid crystalline polymer

A main chain hydrogen-bonded liquid crystalline polymer was formed by melt mixing two complementary components, A and B, which in their individual states do not exhibit liquid crystallinity. The structure of the polymer and the thermal stability of its mesophase were studied using synchrotron radiation SAXS/WAXS/DSC at Daresbury (UK) and by variable temperature Fourier transform infrared. The chain extension, or “polymerization” process, was accelerated at the point when the polymer formed a liquid crystalline phase upon cooling from the isotropic melt. The polymer has an aabb chain structure and forms a smectic layer with a length of the A-B repeating unit. The hydrogen-bonded main chain polymer studied here is a monotropic liquid crystal. Above 150°C, it exhibits kinetic stabilization of its monotropic smectic phase. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 1617–1624, 1998     

自缩合乙烯基聚合体系中的环化效应

基于超支化高分子的生长代数模型,利用Monte Carlo模拟方法研究了不同溶剂条件下自缩合乙烯基聚合(SCVP)体系的环化效应.根据SCVP体系的反应机理给出含环反应的微分动力学方程,并通过环化反应的内在特征确定了分子间反应和内环化反应的速率常数.在此基础上,利用Monte Carlo模拟方法得到了高分子的数量分布函数、重均分子量、环数以及含环分子的链段分数等相关物理量,分析了环化效应对于体系平均物理量的影响.进一步根据模拟结果对单体浓度和溶剂效应等对内环化反应的影响予以分析.结果表明,环化效应取决于单体浓度和溶剂效应之间的协同作用,其中单体浓度在环化反应中起着主导作用.     

The Intrinsic Mechanochemical Reactivity of Vinyl‐Addition Polynorbornene

Herein we report the discovery of the intrinsic mechanochemical reactivity of vinyl‐addition polynorbornene (VA‐PNB), which has strained bicyclic ring repeat units along the polymer backbone. VA‐PNBs with three different side chains were found to undergo ring‐opening olefination upon sonication in dilute solutions. The sonicated polymers exhibited spectroscopic signatures consistent with conversion of the bicyclic norbornane repeat units into the ring‐open isomer typical of polynorbornene made by ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP‐PNB). Thermal analysis and evaluation of chain‐scission kinetics suggest that sonication of VA‐PNB results in chain segments containing a statistical mixture of vinyl‐added and ROMP‐type repeat units.     

Anisotropy of local relaxation properties of macromolecules. Polarized luminescence

A tetrahedral lattice model for a polymer chain with three-unit kinetic elements was used to find the correlation functions which describe the local dynamics of unit vectors oriented in the longitudinal or transverse directions with respect to the chain. These unit vectors can represent the dynamics of the emitting oscillator of the marker. It is shown that the spectra for longitudinal and transverse components of the emitting oscillator differ greatly. It is also shown that at short relaxation times the anisotropy of local relaxation properties of a kinetic chain fragment may be described by an equivalent ellipsoid with an axes ratio of ca. 10.     

Reaction of water soluble polymers with oxidising agents: reaction of dextran with tetravalent cerium

Dextran, an extracellular bacterial polysaccharide, was subjected to reaction with ceric ammonium nitrate in aqueous nitric acid at varying temperatures. The polymer has been found to be degraded due to the selective oxidative cleavage of vicinal glycol units present in the monosaccharide unit of each chain. The aldehyde groups produced upon cleavage at low temperature were found to undergo further oxidation to acids and formic acid with rise in temperature of the reaction. The course of the reaction has been followed by cerimetry and by spectrophotometrical measurements. The effect of the concentration of reacting components on the reaction has been studied and various kinetic aspects have been evaluated. Depending on the kinetic results, a plausible reaction mechanism for the oxidative degradation and the subsequent reactions have been suggested by the study of the changes of solution viscosity and initiation of graft copolymerization of vinyl monomers by Ce(IV)/dextran mixture. Various thermodynamic parameters have been evaluated.     

Investigation of cooperative kinetics on reactions of functional groups on polymer chains

The kinetics of aminolysis of 1,2;3,4-meso-erythritol dicarbonate and 1,2;3,4;5,6-mannitol, sorbitol, and dulcitol tricarbonates by n-butylamine in dimethylformamide solution was investigated. The dicarbonate and tricarbonates are considered respectively as models of dyads and triads in the poly(vinylene carbonate) chain. The theoretical kinetic curves for the dimer and the trimers were calculated by solution of kinetic equations and close agreement with experiment was obtained. A version of the Monte-Carlo method was developed to provide a model for the reaction process by a computer calculation including the neighboring group effect in enhancing reactivity. The theoretical curve for a trimer coincides with the experimental one. These results confirm the accelerating influence of the unreacted neighboring groups. For the polymeric chain the experimental and calculated curves deviate for conversions beyond 10%. This indicates an additional polymer effect, which is as yet unexplained.     

Spin Label and Probe Studies of Polymeric Solids and Melts

The molecular relaxations in polymeric systems have aroused great interest among polymer scientists during the last decades because these phenomena have profound effects upon many important properties of polymers (e.g., upon mechanical behavior, solid-state reactivity, diffusion, melt rheology, and solution properties).     

Chain confinement in polymer nanocomposites and its effect on polymer bulk properties

The issue of chain confinement in nanocomposites remains largely unanswered because experimental systems are plagued by additional complicating variables such as particle–polymer interactions and free volume increases brought upon by the addition of the particles. Using computer simulation of high length chain polymers, we show that simple excluded volume interactions between polymer and nanoparticles lead to a wealth of changes in the diffusion coefficient and entanglement density of the chains. This opens up the possibility of using nanoparticles for tuning polymer properties, such as toughness, melt viscosity, and transient rubberlike behavior. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 687–692, 2010     

The effect of direct interchange reactions on the MWD of condensation polymers

In this theoretical study, a relationship has been developed for the transient molecular-weight distribution (MWD) of a condensation polymer undergoing a direct interchange reaction. Direct interchange is one of several reactions which can take place in condensation polymers in the melt. When compared to the more well-known reactions of polycondensation, degradation, and interchange of an end-group with a condensation linkage, direct interchange has a more complex statistical effect on the MWD and is less commonly observed. However, these types of reactions can be quite important in some polymeric systems, such as in the reaction of poly (butylene terephthalate) with polycarbonate. The MWD relationship was developed from the species balance: The rate of accumulation of chains of a given molecular weight is equal to their rate of generation minus their rate of consumption. For this reaction, development of the generation term is quite complex; it is approached here by describing five probability situations which are determined by each possible combination of reactant and product chains. Example distributions computed from these equations show that different transient paths are followed under direct and end-group interchange, but that both reactions lead to the equilibrium most-probable distribution.     

Model of processing‐induced microstructure formation in polymeric materials

A general, mechanistic, kinetic model is presented to predict polymer microstructure formation during processing. Applications of the model are presented for three specific cases. The model represents polymer molecules as Kramers chains which may or may not have nucleated. Three forces (hydrodynamic, Brownian, and intermolecular) that act on polymer molecules during processing were considered, which resulted in the presentation of the model as a diffusion equation. The input parameters account for the rheological and thermal history of the polymer melt, the specific type of polymer molecule, and the initial morphology. The solution of the diffusion equation yields a probability distribution function from which the transient and equilibrium morphology can be determined. The three specific cases were chosen to illustrate the versatility of the model and include: the extensional flow‐induced growth of extended chain crystals; the orientation of stiff molecules in solution undergoing shear flow well above the crystallization temperature; and the formation of folded chain vs. extended chain crystals in an extensional flow. Data are available for the first two cases and agree favorably with the model predictions. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 2571–2585, 1999     

Simulation of free radical high-pressure copolymerization in a multi-zone autoclave reactor: compartment model investigation

A compartment model is used to describe the complex flow of a high-pressure ethylene copolymerization process in an industrial multi-feed multi-zone autoclave reactor at steady state operation conditions. To capture the imperfect mixing effects due to fresh initiator injection, each zone is considered as a set of three interconnected well mixed CSTRs with recycle streams. Volumes of the reactors and the recycle flow are adjusted to get the best fit with results of steady state well mixed analysis for each zone. Once the temperature and conversion as state variables in each reaction volume are known, the properties of polymer produced in each zone and those of final polymer can be determined. Using a realistic set of kinetic mechanisms, temperature, monomer conversion, molecular weights and short and long chain branching frequencies in each zone and at the exit point of the reactor are estimated. Some of the model results are compared with experimental data obtained for an industrial reactor.     

杂多酸引发四氢呋喃聚合反应 Ⅱ.水的反应行为

前报我们对低腐蚀性非均相的磷钨杂多酸Ｈ３ＰＷ１２Ｏ４０（ＰＷ１２）引发体系进行了研究［１］,发现环氧乙烷（ＥＯ）可有效地促进ＰＷ１２引发的四氢呋喃（ＴＨＦ）聚合反应,大幅度地降低了引发剂用量,聚合物收率显著提高,并发现聚合过程中不存在链终止反应．产物...