A novel layered organic polymer-inorganic hybrid zinc poly (styrene-phenylvinylphosphonate)-phosphate immobilized chiral salen Mn(III) catalyst large-scale asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized olefins

A novel layered organic polymer-inorganic hybrid zinc poly (styrene-phenylvinylphosphonate)-phosphate (ZnPS-PVPA) has been synthesized under mild conditions and diphenol-modified ZnPS-PVPA was used to successfully immobilize the chiral salen Mn(III) by axial coordination. The obtained heterogeneous chiral catalysts exhibited excellent activities and enantioselectivities using sodium periodate as an oxidant for asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized olefins, especially for the epoxidation of α-methylstyrene (conversion: up to 97%; ee: exceed 99%). Moreover, these synthesized catalysts were relatively stable and could be expediently separated from the reaction system, and could be recycled at least ten times without obvious loss of activity and enantioselectivity. These novel catalysts could be efficiently used in large-scale reactions with the enantioselectivity being maintained at the same level, which offer a great possibility for application in industry.     

Anionic Polymerization of α-Methylstyrene. IX. Nature of the Propagating Species

Abstract

The nature of the initiating and propagating species involved in the anionic polymerization of α-methylstyrene has been explored. The earlier hypothesis that multimodal GPC molecular weight distributions in polymers arise solely out of different reaction steps or different ion-pair mechanisms being involved has been modified for poly-α-methylstyrene. Multimodal GPC molecular weight distributions in poly-α-methylstyrene initiated with potassium at 25°C and polymerized at 25°C or higher in THF, p-dioxane, or cyclohexane as solvents have been ascribed to the presence of two different types of tetramers which grow simultaneously but at different rates, each responding to its own well-defined thermodynamic equilibrium and yielding dormant and living polymers. Reaction schemes describing the initiation (at 25°C) and propagation reactions (between -25 and 60°C) in the polymerization (in solution of THF as well as in bulk) of α-methylstyrene initiated with potassium-naphthalene, butyl-lithium, and butyllithium-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) have been presented. The role of coordinating agents naphthalene and TMEDA in changing irreversible propagations into reversible ones has been emphasized.     

Synthesis of nearly monodisperse poly(α-methylstyrene)s containing two Si atoms and an allyl group and the application to resist

The anionic polymerizations of 4-allyldimethylsilyldimethylsilyl-α-methylstyrene ( 1 ), 4-allyldimethylsilylmethyldimethylsilyl-α-methylstyrene ( 2 ), and 4-allyldimethylsilylethyldimethylsilyl-α-methylstyrene ( 3 ) have been conducted. Nearly monodisperse poly(4-allyldimethylsilyldimethylsilyl-α-methylstyrene) ( 4 ), poly(4-allyldimethylsilylmethyldimethylsilyl-α-methylstyrene) ( 5 ), and poly(4-allyldimethylsilylethyldimethylsilyl-α-methylstyrene) ( 6 ) were obtained. The T_gs of 4 , 5 , and 6 are 100.5, 39.0, and 30.5°C, respectively. Among these, 4 has attracted most interest because of a high T_g (100.5°C) and a high Si content (20.5%, w/w). Therefore, a near-UV resist (DMAS-A) composed of 4 and a bisazide has been developed as a top resist layer for a bilayer system.     

Thermal Decomposition of Poly-α-methylstyrene

Kinetic studies on the decomposition of poly-α-methylstyrene samples with molecular weights ranging from 3.7 × 10³ to to 2.0 × 10⁵ have been carried out with the differential thermo-gravimetric technique. Changes in molecular weight distributions with decomposition, at different temperatures, have been studied by gel-permeation chromatography. A depolymeriza-tion mechanism was shown to be responsible for the decomposition phenomenon. The order of reaction for this depolymerization reaction was found to be one. The values of the activation energy for samples of different molecular weights showed no specific trends; however, it would appear that polymers with relatively higher molecular weights have lower activation energies of decomposition. The proportions of the three steric forms, viz., isotactic, heterotactic, and syndiotactic, in the polymer before and after thermal treatments did not change, suggesting that stereoregularity has no apparent effect on the decomposition of poly-α-methylstyrene.     

Thermolytic transformations of polyfluoroorganic compounds

The reaction of α,α-dichlorooctafluoroethylbenzene with tetrafluoroethylene as a source of difluorocarbene has been studied. The copyrolysis of these compounds gave not only the expected products, decafluoro-α-methylstyrene and α-chloroheptafluorostyrene, but also noticeable amounts of perfluoro-1-methylindan and perfluoro-7-methylbicyclo[4.3.0]nona-1,4,6-triene along with perfluoro-3-methylindene and octafluorostyrene. It has been suggested that indan and the triene are formed with the participation of the C₆F₅CCICF₃ radical through sigmatropic shifts of fluorine atoms in the intermediate bicyclic compounds. The reaction of α,α-dichlorodecafluoropropylbenzene with tetrafluoroethylene afforded α-chloroheptafluorostyrene as the main product.     

Copolymerization of isobutene and α-methylstyrene as a function of reaction conditions

The influence of reaction conditions (solvent, Lewis acid, temperature) on the cationic copolymerization of isobutene and α-methylstyrene was investigated. The crude product consists of low molecular nonprecipitable oligomers, polyisobutene, and poly(isobutene-co-α-methylstyrene). The amount of poly(α-methylstyrene) formed under the reaction conditions used was negligible. The degree of charge separation in the propagating cationic intermediate determines the selectivity of the reaction; that is, incorporation of monomer units into the polymer, ratio of different product fractions, and microstructure. Molecular weight distribution, copolymerization parameters, and sequence-length distribution functions were determined. The softening range of the copolymers depended on their isobutene content but appeared to be constant up to 15% isobutene in copolymers. The degradation temperature of the copolymers was between 340 and 390°C.     

Thermal degradation of graft copolymers of PVC prepared by mastication with styrene and methyl methacrylate,and of further PVC mixtures and vinyl chloride copolymers

Graft copolymers prepared by mastication of PVC in the presence of styrene or of a styrene/ methyl methacrylate mixture, have been studied by thermogravimetry, estimation of hydrogen chloride, thermal volatilization analysis, and flash pyrolysis/g.l.c. The degradation behaviour of PVC/ polystyrene mixtures, vinyl chloride/styrene random copolymers, a random copolymer of methyl methacrylate and styrene, and PVC/poly-α-methylstyrene mixtures has also been studied. The graft copolymers resemble the PVC/methacrylate graft copolymers previously studied in showing retardation of the dehydrochlorination reaction, but contrast with them in yielding chain fragments but no monomer during HCl production. Some stabilization of the second component at higher temperatures is also found. PVC/polystyrene mixtures behave in the same way as the corresponding graft copolymers, but vinyl chloride/styrene copolymers show reduced stability towards both dehydrochlorination and monomer production compared with the homopolymers. PVC/poly-α-methylstyrene mixtures yield some monomer concurrently with HCl loss, and display marked retardation of the latter reaction. Stabilization of the second polymer at higher temperatures is again observed. Many of these results add further strong support to the view that chlorine atoms are involved as chain carriers in the thermal dehydrochlorination of PVC.     

Interaction of organo-alkali compounds with unsaturated hydrocarbons

The stability of disodium tetramer of α-methylstyrene (“living” polymer) in THF and in a THF-α-methylstyrene mixture has been investigated by spectrophotometry. It was found that at 25°C and at concentrations lower than the equilibrium concentration α-methylstyrene greatly stabilizes the process leading to disappearance of the main absorption band (λ_max = 340 mμ) of “living” polymer. In this case isomerization of “living” polymer is accompanied by quantitative conversion of the compound having λ_max = 340 mμ into a new compound with λ_max = 430 mμ. The constants of the disappearance rate D₃₄₀ and the activation energies of the process were determined in THF and in a THF-α-methylstyrene mixture. The introduction of small amounts of α-methylstyrene into living polymer at 25°C markedly increases its activity in the course of propagation. The experimental results are considered from the standpoint of formation of complexes of living polymer with α-methylstyrene.     

Asymmetric organocatalytic allylic substitution of Morita-Baylis-Hillman carbonates with allylamines for the synthesis of 2,5-dihydropyrroles

The asymmetric allylic substitution reaction of MBH carbonates with allylamines has been developed, which affords N-allyl-β-amino-α-methylene esters in high yields and enantioselectivities. After a subsequent ring-closure metathesis of the products, a series of optically active 2,5-dihydropyrroles could be obtained smoothly in high yields without any loss of enantioselectivity. Finally, a tentative mechanism for rationalization of the reaction has been proposed.     

Cationic Copolymerization with Depropagation. The Copolymerization of α-Methylstyrene and Styrene

ABSTRACT

To evaluate the existence of the depropagation reaction in the copolymerization of vinyl monomers, the cationic copolymerization of α-methylstyrene with styrene was studied. The copolymer composition exhibited an extensive dependency on the temperature of polymerization and the monomer concentration, this fact not being explained by the Mayo-Lewis equation. Treatment of the copolymerization in terms of the depropagation reaction led to an estimate of the monomer reactivity ratio and the equilibrium constant between the polymer and the monomer of α-methylstyrene. A comparison of the equilibrium constants thus obtained with those reported in the literature indicates that the magnitude of the equilibrium constants depends on the sequence length of α-methylstyrene units. By extrapolation to long sequence length, the equilibrium constants approach the values which are reported for high molecular weight poly(α-methylstyrene).     

Cationic polymerization of α-methylstyrene from polydienes. I. Synthesis and characterization of poly(butadiene-g-α-methylstyrene) copolymers

The preparation of poly(butadiene-g-α-methylstyrene) copolymers was investigated with three different alkylaluminum coinitiators. The alkylaluminum compounds in conjunction with polybutadiene which contained a low concentration of labile chlorine atoms initiated the polymerization of α-methylstyrene to produce graft copolymers. Trimethylaluminum gave higher grafting efficiencies than diethylaluminum chloride at comparable monomer conversions. Triethylaluminum produced only very low monomer conversions (<5%), even at long reaction times, and for this reason was not studied extensively. The number of grafts per polybutadiene backbone was determined for a number of copolymers and found to increase slightly as the allylic chlorine concentration in the polybutadiene backbone was increased. In all cases, however, only a low percentage of the available labile chlorine sites along the polybutadiene backbone resulted in grafted α-methylstyrene side chains. The addition of small quantities of water to the polymerization solvent greatly enhanced the grafting rate and ultimate monomer conversion during the synthesis of these poly(butadiene-g-α-methylstyrene) copolymers. The mechanistic role of water during these grafting reactions is unknown at the present time.     

Synthesis of tritium labelled monomers and polymers

The use of P₂O₅ for promoting the tritiation of various monomers and polymers has been investigated. Methyl methacrylate and vinyl acetate may be labelled at ambient temperatures by this procedure which is also applicable to labelling polystyrene and poly(α-methylstyrene). Exchange labelling of polymer substrates is most conveniently carried out in chlorinated hydrocarbons. The rate of tritium exchange increases with solvent polarity and temperature. Monomers of high radiochemical purity may be derived from the thermal depolymerization of tritiated polystyrene, poly(α-methylstyrene) and poly(methyl methacrylate).     

Microbial whole cell-catalyzed desymmetrization of prochiral malonamides: practical synthesis of enantioenriched functionalized carbamoylacetates and their application in the preparation of unusual α-amino acids

Catalyzed by Rhodococcus erythropolis AJ270, an amidase-containing microbial whole cell catalyst, under very mild conditions, a number of functionalized prochiral malonamides underwent enantioselective desymmetrization reaction to afford high yield of carbamoylacetic acids with moderate to excellent enantioselectivity. The synthetic application has been demonstrated with a multi-gram scale biocatalytic preparation of R-(−)-α-allyl-α-methyl-carbamoylacetic acid and its conversions to varied α,α-disubstituted α-amino acids of the interest of medicinal chemistry.     

Photo- and radiation-induced degradation of vinyl polymers in solution. I. Oxidative degradation of poly(α-methylstyrene) initiated by photodecomposition of AIBN

The oxidative degradation of poly(α-methylstyrene) initiated by the photodecomposition of azobisisobutyronitrile was studied at 30°C in benzene solution. The progress of the reaction was followed by measuring the rate of chain scission of the polymer. It has been confirmed by GPC measurements that random scission of the polymer chain occurs in the present system. Chain scission did not occur in the absence of AIBN and oxygen. The rate was proportional to the initiation rate and independent of polymer concentration and oxygen pressure under these experimental conditions. Phenol was an effective inhibitor to this reaction. The mechanism of chain scission during oxidation is discussed, and a six-membered transition is proposed.     

Stereospecific polymerization of α-methylstyrene by friedel-crafts catalysts

The relationship between stereoregularity and polymerization conditions of α-methylstyrene has been studied by means of NMR spectra. The effects of solvents and various Freidel-Crafts catalysts have been investigated. The stereoregularity of poly-α-methylstyrene increased with increased polymer solubility in the solvent used and with decreasing polymerization temperature. This behavior is completely different from the stereospecific polymerization of vinyl ethers and methyl methacrylate in homogeneous systems. This may be due to the strong steric repulsion exerted by the two substituents in the α-position of α-methylstyrene. For example, with BF₃ · O(C₂H₅)₂ as catalyst at ?78°C., atactic polymer is obtained in n-hexane, a nonsolvent for α-methylstyrene, whereas highly stereoregular polymer is produced in toluene or methylene chloride, good solvents for the polymer. However, the polarity of the solvent and the nature of the catalyst hardly affect the stereoregularity of the polymer.     

Anionic Polymerization of New Dual-Functionalized Styrene and α-Methylstyrene Derivatives Having Styrene or α-Methylstyrene Moieties

Anionic polymerizations of four new dual-functionalized styrene and α-methylstyrene derivatives, 3-(4-(4-isopropenylphenoxy)butyl)styrene ( 4 ), 3-(4-(2-isopropenylphenoxy)butyl)-α-methylstyrene ( 5 ), 4-(4-(4-isopropenylphenoxy)butyl)-α-methylstyrene ( 6 ), and 4-(4-(2-vinylphenoxy)butyl)styrene ( 7 ), were carried out in THF at -78 °C with sec-BuLi as an initiator. Both 4 and 5 underwent anionic polymerization in a living manner to quantitatively afford functionalized polystyrenes and poly(α-methylstyrene)s having α-methylstyrene moiety in each monomer unit and precisely controlled chain lengths. On the other hand, insoluble polymers were obtained by the anionic polymerization of 6 and 7 under the same conditions. The positional effect of substituent on anionic polymerization was discussed.     

Polystyrene-poly(α-methylstyrene) blends: Influence of molecular weight on miscibility

Blends of polystyrene of molecular weights from 4000 to 80000 g/mol with poly(α-methylstyrene) of molecular weights from 55000 to 300000 g/mol were made by freeze-drying from benzene solutions. Glass transition temperature measurements by differential scanning calorimetry indicate that the miscibility behaviour of the polymers is very sensitive to change of molecular weights. A decrease of polystyrene chain length changes a two-phase system into a miscible or partially miscible blend. Broadening of the transition region and temperature shifts suggest that the polystyrene dissolves more in the poly(α-methylstyrene) phase than does the poly(α-methylstyrene) in the polystyrene phase.     

Preparation,fractionation, and dilute-solution behavior of ABA poly(methyl methacrylate-b-α-methylstyrene) block copolymers

The preparation by anionic polymerization of six ABA poly(methyl methacrylate-b-α-methylstyrene) block copolymers and of sixteen poly(α-methylstyrene)s is described. The block copolymers, of similar molecular weight but with different chemical compositions, were fractionated by preparative gel permeation chromatography and their behavior in dilute solution was investigated using viscometry. The results obtained indicate that the intramolecular phase separation does not occur under the conditions utilized, the block copolymers assuming randomcoil configurations in all of the copolymer/solvent systems studied. Consequently the block copolymer molecules are more expanded than homopolymers of the same molecular weight. The series of poly(α-methylstyrene)s covered the molecular weight range 2.7 × 10³–1.3 × 10⁶ and enabled the determination of Mark–Houwink–Sakurada constants for poly(α-methylstyrene) in the solvents chosen for the block copolymer studies.     

Diarylprolinol in an asymmetric aldol reaction of an α-alkyl-α-oxo aldehyde as an electrophile

The direct aldol reaction of an α-alkyl-α-oxo aldehyde was catalyzed by trifluoromethyl-substituted diarylprolinol 1 to afford a γ-oxo-β-hydroxy-α-substituted aldehyde in good yield with excellent anti-selectivity and excellent enantioselectivity.     

Polymerization of α-Methylstyrene in Cyclohexane with Potassium as Initiator. IV. Thermodynamic Study and Gel-Permeation Chromatographic Analyses of the Polymers

Polymerization of α-methylstyrene in cyclohexane containing traces of tetrahydrofuran (THF) has been carried out at 40°C with potassium as initiator. The conversion of monomer to polymer was very slow, and a solution with [M]₀ of 5.15 mole/ liter, carrying 0.110 mole/liter of the living ends [LE], required two months to reach a stationary state. The gel-permeation chromatographic (GPC) analyses of these polymers showed them to have multimodal distributions which could be split into components D+A, B, and C similar to those found for poly-α-methylstyrene prepared in THF and α-dioxane as solvents. Furthermore, under identical conditions of [M]₀ and [LE], the GPC distributions of poly-α-methylstyrene prepared in cyclohexane, p-dioxane, and THF were the same, in spite of their different dielectric constants. Under identical conditions of [M]₀ but with different [LE], the effect of excessive [LE] on the GPC distributions of the polymers prepared in cyclohexane was not limited to the component D+A as was the case when THF or p-dioxane were the solvents, but also on the component C which increased its contribution [P]_e to the polymer.