Chiral 1,4-benzodiazepines—-XI: Kinetics of degenerate nucleophilic exchange of C(3)-hydroxy group

The rate for degenerate nucleophilic exchange (k_e) of the C(3)-OH group in the racemic compound 1 was determined in DMSO/H₂¹⁸O using mass spectrometry. Epimerization rates for diastereomers 15 and 16 were determined by polarimetry (k_ep) and NMR spectroscopy (k_r-c—for $\text{r}$ing-$\text{c}$hain tautomery). The ratio $\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{e}}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{ep}}$ ~ 3.5 35° is close to that obtained for degenerate nucleophilic exchange of the C(3)-OMe group in the compound 1a ($\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{e}}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{\alpha }}$ ~4, Refs. [3,4]). These data confirm the C(3)-OH substituted 1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones lose the configurational identity of the C(3) chiral centre by both direct nucleophilic substitution of the OH group, and ring-chain tautomery processes.The synthesis of the diastereomeric compounds 15 and 16, and their chromatographic separation is described.     

Primary radical termination in polymerization: Evaluation of the characteristic constant

Polymerization experiments with styrene in benzene at 60°, initiated by benzoyl peroxide, covering a wide range of concentration of both monomer and initiator are reported; the results cannot be explained in terms of the classical rate relationship with $\text{R}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{∝ [}\text{I}\text{]}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{[}\text{M}\text{]}$. Deviations were reflected in unexpected orders of monomer up to [M]^1·4 and of initiator down to [I]^0·42 when the initiator concentration is increased and monomer concentration is decreased. Based on the concept of primary radical termination, an equation, viz.

$\text{ln}\text{R}\text{p}\text{2}\text{[I][M]}{}^2\text{=}\text{ln}\text{2f}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{d}}\text{k}\text{p}\text{2}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{?2}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{prt}}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{×}\text{R}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{[M]}{}^2$

is proposed. Semi-log plots of R_p²/[I] [M]² vs R_p/[M]² show a wide range of linearity; the characteristic constant k_prt/k_ik_p and also f_k can be obtained from the slope and intercept, respectively, k_prt, k_i and k_p are, respectively, the rate constants of primary radical termination, initiation and propagation and f_k is the efficiency of initiation, defined as the fraction of radicals which come out of the solvent cage and take part in initiation, primary radical termination and primary radical recombination. The definition of f_k is thus differentiated from the conventional efficiency of initiation. Finally, we have derived an equation which allows determination of the classical efficiency of initiation as a function of [I]/[M]² and also allows a correction of R_p in handling the above equation by taking into account the small amount of monomer consumed in initiation.     

General approach to polymer properties dependent on molecular characteristics

The general equation

where P is a polymer property, Π is the sign of product, A is a constant, v_i is the ith variable and a_i is the exponent of ith variable, has been proposed for the dependence of some polymer properties on molecular weight, molecular weight distribution and long-chain branching. The data confirming the proposed equation have been taken from published theoretical and experimental papers on intrinsic viscosity, melt viscosity and glass transition temperature, as well as on viscosity of polymer solutions. Examples of application are given.     

Rate parameters for transfer reactions of some polymer radicals: in terms of Swain and Lupton's f and r and the unique positional weighting factors of Williams and Norrington

Rate parameters of the reaction of phenols, deuterated phenols and nitrobenzenes with polyvinylacetate radicals and of aromatic thiols with polymethylmethacrylate radicals have been correlated with Swain and Lupton's substituent constants (F_k and R_k) and Williams and Norrington's unique positional weighting factors (f_j and r_j) by the following equation: $\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{= α}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{j}}\text{F}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{+ β}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{r}{}_{\mathrm{j}}\text{R}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{+ e}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{+ P}{}^0{}_{\mathrm{i}}$where P_i's are the rate parameters, P⁰_i being that for a standard reference state. The correlations were found to be quite satisfactory. The sign and magnitude, and the ratio of the reaction dependent parameters α_i and β_i throw light on the nature of the transition state and the relative contributions of the mesomeric and inductive effects. The present studies also show that the mesomeric effect of meta-substituents is significantly greater than reported by earlier workers.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the interaction of hexaaquochromium(III) with octacyanomolybdate(IV) ions

The kinetics of the interaction of hexaaquochromium(III) ion with potassium octacyanomolybdate(IV) have been studied using conductance and spectrophotometric data. The mechanism of the reaction is discussed and the effect of H⁺ ion and the ionic strength on the rate of the reaction determined. The reaction is found to be pseudo-first order with respect to potassium octacyanomolybdate(IV) and inverse first order with [H₃O⁺]. The rate of the reaction increases with increase in ionic strength and temperature. Activation parameters have been calculated using the Arrhenius equation and have the values ΔE^* = 1.3 × 10² kJ mol^?1, ΔH^* = 129 kJ mol^?1, ΔS^* = ?315 e.u., ΔF^* = 2.3 × 10² kJ and A = 1.5 × 10^?3. The mechanism proposed is based on ion-pair formation and the rate equation obtained is given by: k_obs=$\text{[}{}_{\mathrm{kK}}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>E</mtext>}}\text{[H}{}_3\text{O}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{]+}\text{k′K′k}{}_{\mathrm{E}}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{h}}\text{][Mo(CN)}{}_8{}^{\mathrm{4?}}\text{]}\text{[H}{}_3\text{O}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{]+}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>h</mtext>}}\text{+[}\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>E</mtext>}}\text{[H}{}_3\text{O}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{]+}\text{K′}{}_{\mathrm{E}}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{h}}\text{][Mo(CN)}{}_8{}^{\mathrm{4?}}\text{]}$     

Substituent effects in the reaction of phenols with polyacrylonitrile radicals

Substituent effects in the reactivities of phenols towards polyacrylonitrile radicals have been studied in terms of Swain and Luptons' field (F_k) and resonance (R_k) components of the substituent parameters and the unique positional weighting factors (f_j and r_j) proposed by Williams and Norrington, with the aid of the following equation:

$\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{= x}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{F}{}_{\mathrm{k}}\text{+ ß}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{r}{}_{\mathrm{j}}\text{K}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{+ e}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{+}\text{P}\text{i}\text{o}$

P_i′s are the rate parameters, P_i⁰ being that for a standard reference compound. Two types of rate parameters have been employed—one, suggested by Simonyi, Tüdös and Pospisil (β) and another, suggested by us, (K), which is obtained from a plot of [Monomer]/(rate of polymerisation) vs [Phenol]. The correlations have been found to be quite satisfactory with both β and K. An attempt has been made to ascertain the nature of the transition state from the reaction parameters α_i and β_i; a dipolar transition state is suggested. The anomalous kinetic behaviour of hydroxy phenols has been discussed.     

Evaluation of the type of polymer property average

A method for evaluation of the type of average, which is experimentally obtained for a given property of polydisperse polymer, is described. A multivariable power function

where P is the polymer property, $\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{x}}$ is the x-average molecular weight, q is the polydispersity degree, A_p, a and a_px are constants, and the a_px = 0 criterion (a_px being the polydispersity exponent) is used for this purpose.     

Formation of an iridium σ-cyclopropane complex by the intramolecular activation of a cyclopropylphosphine: Rearrangement to a chelating σ-vinyl complex

When (t-Bu)₂PCH₂CHCH₂CH₂ is combined with [IrCl(C₈H₁₄)₂]₂ in toluene, the σ-bound cyclopropane complexes

(P(t-Bu)₂CH₂$\text{CHCH}{}_2\text{C}$H₂) (1a, 1b) are formed. Complexes 1a,1b react readily with H₂ to form IrClH₂P(t-Bu)₂CH₂$\text{CHCH}{}_2\text{C}$H₂)₂ (2). In polar solvents 1a,1b isomerize to the σ-vinyl chelated complex $\text{IrClH(P(t-Bu)}{}_2\text{CH}{}_2\text{C(CH}{}_3\text{)C}$H)(P(t-Bu)₂CH₂$\text{CHCH}{}_2\text{C}$H₂) (3). The structure of this 5-coordinate, 16-electron Ir^III complex was deduced from spectroscopic data, reaction chemistry, and from the crystal structure of its CO adduct (4). Compound 4 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C_2h⁵-P2₁/n (a 15.610(14), b 15.763(16), c 11.973(13) Å, and β 104.74(5)°) with 4 molecules per unit cell. The final agreement indices for 2326 reflections having F_o² > 3σ(F_o²) are R(F) = 0.089 and R_w(F) = 0.095 (271 variables) while R(F²) is 0.148 for the 3423 unique data. Bond lengths in the 5-atom chelate ring $\text{IrPCCC}$ are IrP 2.341(4), PC 1.857(26), CC 1.520(30), CC 1.341(25), and CIr 1.994(21) Å. The IrCl distance is 2.479(5) Å.     

Termination and transfer of the polymer chain to a maleimide derivative containing the azo group

The copolymerizations of N-(3-dimethylaminophenyl) maleimide (I) and 4-(2-chlorophenyl)azo-3-maleimido-N,N-dimethylaniline (II) with styrene were investigated; the copolymerization parameters of the pairs ($\text{I}\text{+}\text{styrene}$) and ($\text{II}\text{+}\text{styrene}$) and $\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{/k}{}_{\mathrm{t}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ hr I at 50° were determined; chain transfer to the maleimide ring of I was proved. The homopolymerization of styrene in the presence of 4-(2-chlorophenyl)azo-succinimide-N,N-dimethylaniline (III) was used to determine the ratio of the rate constant for addition of the polystyrene radical to the azo group in III to k_p for styrene.     

Investigations on the influence of charge density on the mutual deactivation of polyion-macroradicals—II

Bimolecular rate constants (2 k_R) of the reaction R· + R· in aqueous solution were measured using the pulse radiolysis technique. R· designates radicals produced by H atom abstraction from polyvinyl alcohol partially acetalyzed with glyoxylic acid. Due to the expansion of the coils, 2 k_R increases with X_i the content of ionized base units in mole %. Above a critical value x_i (crit), 2 k_R decreases due to intermolecular repulsion. x_i(crit) decreases with increasing chain length $\text{n}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>n</mtext>}}$ [x_i (crit) ≈ 0·5 mole % at $\text{n}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>n</mtext>}}\text{= 3000}$ and x_i (crit) ≈ 1·5 mole % at $\text{n}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{= 270}$]. In the presence of NaClO₄, the following salt effects were observed: for x_i >x_i (crit), 2 k_R is increased because the intermolecular repulsion is partially depressed by screening. Below x_i (crit), 2 k_R is decreased since the coil expansion is diminished. At very low values of x_i where the coil expansion due to intramolecular repulsion is negligible, no salt effect was detectable.     

Study of copper-chromium oxide catalyst: I. Thermal decomposition of copper(III) chromate,CuCrO4

The kinetics, mechanism, and activation energy of the isothermal decomposition of CuCrO₄ was studied using an isothermal TG method and an X-ray high-temperature diffraction technique in either air or a flowing atmosphere of N₂. The enthalpy change ΔH of the decomposition reaction

$\text{2}\text{CuCrO}{}_4\text{→}\text{CuO}\text{+}\text{CuO}\text{+}\text{CuCr}{}_2\text{O}{}_4\text{+}\text{3}\text{2}\text{O}{}_2$

was determined by DSC analysis. The mechanism of the thermal decomposition of CuCrO₄ is well represented by the standard Avrami-Erofeev kinetic equation $\text{[?}\text{ln}\text{(1 ? α)]}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{= kt}$. According to this mechanism, the reaction rate is controlled by the formation and growth of nuclei on the surface of the reactant. The activation energy E_A of the process in air is E_A = (248 ± 8) kJ mole^?1, in flowing atmosphere of nitrogen E_A = (229 ± 8) kJ mole^?1. ΔH in air is 110 kJ mole^?1, in flowing nitrogen 67 kJ mole^?1. The lower values of ΔH and E_A in the flowing atmosphere of nitrogen are due to the fast elimination of O₂ from the reaction interface. However, the decay of the crystalline portion of CuCrO₄ during its thermal decomposition, studied by the X-ray diffraction, is controlled by a different reaction mechanism (first-order kinetics). The reaction mechanism is discussed in the relation to the crystal structure of the reactants.     

Dependence of polymer specific volume on molecular characteristics

Linear and branched bisphenol A polycarbonate (PC) samples were characterized by their average molecular weights, $\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>n</mtext>}}$ and $\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>w</mtext>}}$, polydispersity degree $\text{q =}\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>w</mtext>}}\text{/}\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>n</mtext>}}$, and branching degree g_v. The weight fraction of microgel was also determined for branched samples. The samples were amorphized and densities were measured at 23°C to obtain the values of specific volume, v_sp. The dependence of v_sp on molecular characteristics is described by the multivariable power function $\text{Δv}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>sp</mtext>}}\text{=}\text{A}{}_{\mathrm{sp}}\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>x</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>a</mtext>}}\text{q}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>apx</mtext>}}\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>v</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>ab</mtext>}}$, where Δv_sp = v_sp ? v_sp,∞, and A_sp, a, a_px and a_b are constants. It has been confirmed that a = ?1, a_pn = 0 and a_pw = 1. It has also been found that the branching exponent a_b significantly depends on microgel content. The relationships found for PC should, in principle, be valid for other polymers. Examples based on literature data are given for linear polyethylene and polydimethylsiloxane.     

Transfer to monomer in the polymerization of N-(3-dimethylaminophenyl) maleimide and N-(3-dimethylamino-6-methylphenyl) maleimide

The kinetics of the homopolymerizations of styrene, N-(3-dimethylaminophenyl) maleimide (I) and N-(3-dimethylamino-6-methylphenyl) maleimide (II) in benzene and dimethylformamide, and the molecular weights of the polymers were studied. N-(3-Dimethylaminophenyl) succinimide, regarded as a model for polymer I, did not affect the polymerization of styrene. The data indicate degradative transfer of polymer radicals to dimethylformamide and pronounced transfer to monomers I and II (C_M ≈ 0.06–0.07). The value of $\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{/k}{}_{\mathrm{t}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ for II is 0.09 $\text{dm}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$$\text{mole}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$$\text{s}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$.     

Unusual effects of anisotropic bonding in Cu(II) and Ni(II) oxides with K2NiF4 structure

Geometric constraints present in A₂BO₄ compounds with the tetragonal-T structure of K₂NiF₄ impose a strong pressure on the BO_IIB bonds and a stretching of the AO_IA bonds in the basal planes if the tolerance factor is $\text{t ?}\text{R}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>AO</mtext>}}\text{√2 R}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>BO</mtext>}}\text{< 1}$, where R_AO and R_BO are the sums of the AO and BO ionic radii. The tetragonal-T phase of La₂NiO₄ becomes monoclinic for Pr₂NiO₄, orthorhombic for La₂CuO₄, and tetragonal-T′ for Pr₂CuO₄. The atomic displacements in these distorted phases are discussed and rationalized in terms of the chemistry of the various compounds. The strong pressure on the BO_IIB bonds produces itinerant bands and a relative stabilization of localized d_z² orbitals. Magnetic susceptibility and transport data reveal an intersection of the Fermi energy with the d²_z² levels for half the copper ions in La₂CuO₄; this intersection is responsible for an intrinsic localized moment associated with a configuration fluctuation; below 200 K the localized moment smoothly vanishes with decreasing temperature as the d²_z² level becomes filled. In La₂NiO₄, the localized moments for half-filled d_z² orbitals induce strong correlations among the electrons above $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>d</mtext>}}\text{? 200}\text{K}$; at lower temperatures the electrons appear to contribute nothing to the magnetic susceptibility, which obeys a Curie-Weiss law giving a μ_eff corresponding to $\text{S =}\text{1}\text{2}$, but shows no magnetic order to lowest temperatures. These surprising results are verified by comparison with the mixed systems La₂Ni_1?xCu_xO₄ and La_2?2xSr_2xNi_1?xTi_xO₄. The onset of a charge-density wave below 200 K is proposed for both La₂CuO₄ and La₂NiO₄, but the atomic displacements would be short-range cooperative in mixed systems. The semiconductor-metallic transitions observed in several systems are found in many cases to obey the relation $\text{E}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>a</mtext>}}\text{? kT}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>min</mtext>}}$, where $\text{? = ?}{}_0\text{exp}\text{(}\text{?E}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>a</mtext>}}\text{kT}\text{)}$ and T_min is the temperature of minimum resistivity ?. This relation is interpreted in terms of a diffusive charge-carrier mobility with $\text{E}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>a</mtext>}}\text{? ΔH}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>m</mtext>}}\text{? kT}$ at T = T_min.     

Etude cristallochimique des phases de type perovskite du systeme Th0.25 NbO3NaNbO3

The compound Th_0.25 NbO₃ melts congruently at 1390°C. Single crystals obtained by slow cooling from the melt are transparent and show uniaxial optical properties. A single-crystal X-ray analysis confirms the tetragonal cell found by Kovba and Trunov from a powder data and gives a = 3.90 Å and c = 7.85 Å. No systematic absence of the hkl reflections is observed on precession films. The relative intensities of the main reflections are characteristic of a perovskite-like arrangement ABO₃ whose large dodecahedral A sites are only partly occupied. Several domains have been found in the perovskite-type solid solution (1 ? x) Th_0.25NbO₃-x NaNbO₃. For 0 ? x ? 0.5 the phases have a tetragonal cell with $\text{a ? a}{}_0$ and $\text{c ? 2a}{}_0$ as in pure Th_0.25 NbO₃. When 0.6 ? x ? 0.8 the corresponding phases crystallize with a small cubic cell ($\text{a}{}_0\text{? 3.9}$Å), while phases with 0.9 ? x ? 1 have an orthorhombic cell ($\text{a ? 2}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{a}{}_0\text{, b ? 2}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{a}{}_0\text{, c ? a}{}_0$).     

NMR study of hydrogen molybdenum bronzes: H1.71MoO3 and H0.36MoO3

Proton NMR relaxation times (T₂T₁, and T_1?) and absorption spectra are reported for the compounds H_1.71MoO₃ (red monoclinic) and H_0.36MoO₃ (blue orthorhombic) in the temperature range 77 K < T < 450 K. Rigid lattice dipolar spectra show that both compounds contain proton pairs, as OH₂ groups coordinated to Mo atoms in H_1.71MoO₃ and as pairs of OH groups in H_0.36MoO₃. The room temperature lineshape for H_1.71MoO₃ shows that the average chemical shielding tensor has a total anisotropy of 20.1 ppm. The relaxation measurements confirm that hydrogen diffusion occurs and give E_A = 22 kJ mole^?1 and $\text{τ}{}^0{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>C</mtext>}}\text{? 10}{}^{\mathrm{?13}}\text{sec}$ for H_1.71MoO₃ and E_A = 11 kJ mole^?1 and $\text{τ}{}^0{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>C</mtext>}}\text{? 3 × 10}{}^{\mathrm{?8}}\text{sec}$ for H_0.36MoO₃.     

Synthesis of monohydridohexamethylbenzeneruthenium(II) complexes containing group V donor ligands. Isomerism arising from cyclometallation of a tertiary phosphine at aliphatic and aromatic carbon atoms

The η-hexamethylbenzenehydridoruthenium(II) complexes RuHCl(η-C₆Me₆)L (L = PPh₃ (11), AsPh₃ (12), P(C₆H₄-p-F)₃ (14), P(C₆H₄-p-Me)₃ (15), P(C₆H₄-p-OMe)₃ (16), P-t-BuPh₂ (17), P-i-PrPh₂ (18), P-i-Pr₃ (19), PCy₃ (20) and P-t-BuMe₂ (21)) have been made by heating [RuCl₂(η-C₆Me₆)]₂, the ligand and sodium carbonate in propan-2-ol. The triarylphosphine complexes 11, 14 and 15 react with methyllithium to give aryl ortho-metallated hydridoruthenium(II) complexes such as $\text{RuH(}\text{o}\text{-C}{}_6\text{H}{}_4\text{P}$Ph₂)(η-C₆Me₆) (22) and 19 similarly gives the isopropyl cyclometallated complex $\text{RuH(CH}{}_2\text{CHMeP}$-i-Pr₂(η-C₆Me₆) (29) as a mixture of diastereomers. Reaction of 17 with methyllithium gives initially the t-butyl cyclometallated complex $\text{RuH(CH}{}_2\text{CMe}{}_2\text{P}$Ph₂)(η-C₆Me₆) (25) which isomerizes by a first order process (k$\text{0}\text{?}$.2 h^?1 in C₆D₆ or THF-d₈ at 50°C) to the aryl ortho-metallated complex $\text{RuH(}\text{o}\text{-C}{}_6\text{H}{}_4\text{P}$-t-BuPh)(η-C₆Me₆) (26). The similarly generated isopropyl cyclometallated complex $\text{RuH(CH}{}_2\text{CHMeP}$Ph₂)(η-C₆Me₆) (27) has not been isolated in a pure state owing to rapid isomerization to $\text{RuH(}\text{o}\text{-C}{}_6\text{H}{}_4\text{P}$-i-PrPh)(η-C₆Me₆) (28); both 27 and 28 exist as a pair of diastereomers. The formation of the cyclometallated complexes and the isomerizations are thought to involve intermediate 16-electron ruthenium(O) complexes Ru(η-C₆Me₆)L.     

Polymerization in liquid crystals—IV: The polymerization of cholesteryl-vinyl-succinate

The solid-, cholesteric- and liquid-state polymerizations of cholesteryl-vinyl-succinate (CVS) are studied. Only one of the three polymorphic modifications of CVS oligomerizes in the solid state into oligomers of degree $\text{P}\text{= 2}\text{to}\text{6}$ in a homogeneous topochemical reaction. The rate of polymerization in the cholesteric state is lower than that in the liquid state at the same temperature. Kinetic constants were measured at 85° using benzoyl peroxide as initiator and the Banfield radical, giving E_overall = 15.4, 36.4 kcal/mole^?1; $\text{f = 0.52, 0.19; k}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{/k}{}_{\mathrm{t}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{= 0.0167, 0.0192}$, (1/mole sec)^{$\text{1}\text{2}$}, ($\text{E}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{?}\text{1}\text{2}\text{E}{}_{\mathrm{t}}\text{) = 0.40, 21.4}$ kcal mole^?1. The values refer to the liquid- and the cholesteric-state reactions, respectively. The average degree of polymerization is low in both cases ($\text{P}\text{= 20}\text{and}\text{22}$). It was concluded that the molecular weights are controlled by chain transfer and that the initiation reaction is mostly dependent on the phase where the reaction takes place.