Kinetics and mechanistic investigation of epoxy–anhydride compositions cured with quaternary phosphonium salts as accelerators

Mechanism and curing kinetics of bisphenol A epoxy resin–iso‐methyltetrahydrophthalic anhydride compositions using quaternary phosphonium salts as accelerators were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and electrospray mass‐spectrometry (ESI‐MS). The DSC method was applied to investigate curing kinetics and apparent activation energy values for the overall curing process. The DSC results showed that some of the phosphonium salts lead to a lower activation energy, that means they are more effective accelerators for the curing of epoxy–anhydride systems. The mechanism of curing was studied by ESI‐MS using the model reaction of epichlorohydrin (E) with phthalic anhydride (PA) in the presence of phosphonium salts or 2‐methylimidazole. Products containing the alkyl moiety of the phosphonium salt in form of alkyl esters could be identified. This suggests that the phosphonium salts activate the anhydride by electrophilic attack. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 1088–1097     

Synthesis of Pure O,O,S-Trialkyl Phosphorodithioates

Abstract

Esters of phosphorodithioic acid are of importance in pesticide formulations¹ and as oil additives.² The widely used method of preparation is to reflux the alkali metal salt of dialkyl phosphorodithioic acid with an alkyl bromide in alcoholic solution,³ i.e.     

Effects of acyl donor type, catalyst type, and reaction conditions on the activity and selectivity of Friedel-Crafts acylation

Acylation of anisole and 3-methylanisole was performed with several acylating reagents (acetylation by AcCl and Ac₂O and bromoacetylation by BrAcCl and (BrAc)₂O) over different solid acid catalysts. The reaction conditions were optimized with respect to the acylation reagent, overall yield, solid acid catalyst, and the products selectivities. While acylation of anisole with acetyl chloride or acetic anhydride resulted in its full conversion to para-substituted acetophenone, the use of bromoacetyl bromide or bromoacetic anhydride yielded also the ortho-substituted product. Acylation of 3-methylanisole also yielded both para- and ortho-substitutions, and the products distribution was affected by the reaction conditions and catalyst type. It was found that while more acidic catalysts (caesium salt of heteropolyacid and zeolites) were the most active towards anisole acylation, the most active catalysts for the acylation of 3-methylanisole were ion-exchange catalysts. Employing HY-740 zeolite resulted in the highest ortho-selectivity in the acylation of anisole with bromoacetyl bromide and bromoacetic anhydride and in the acylation of 3-methylanisole with acetic anhydride.     

Synthesis,Structure, and Alkylation of 4-Nitroamino-1,2,4-triazole

Nitration of 4-amino-1,2,4-triazole with nitric acid in acetic anhydride gives the corresponding N-nitroamino derivative which has an inner salt structure. Its alkylation with alkyl halides, as well as with oxiranes, occurs only at the endocyclic nitrogen atom, while the exocyclic reaction center is not involved. All the 1-substituted products have the structure of 1-alkyl-1,2,4-triazol-1-io-4-N-nitroimides.     

Unequivocal synthesis of bis(2-cyanoacrylate) monomers. I. Via anthracene adducts

An unequivocal and general synthesis of bis(2-cyanoacrylate) monomers from Diels-Alder adducts of the alkyl 2-cyanoacrylates has been developed. Saponification of the anthracene adduct of either isobutyl or ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate to the anthracene/2-cyanoacrylic acid adduct, conversion of the latter to the alkali salt or acid chloride derivatives, followed by respective esterification reactions with an organic dihalide or glycol gave the bis-anthracene adduct precursors to the bis(2-cyanoacrylate) monomers. Heating the bis-adducts with excess maleic anhydride in refluxing xylene effected retrograde diene scission to the bis(2-cyanoacrylate) monomers in up to 80% overall yields. Comonomer blends of the difunctional bis(2-cyanoacrylates) with the alkyl 2-cyanoacrylates gave crosslinked polymeric adhesive compositions exhibiting higher bond strengths under both dry and wet conditions than the noncrosslinked cyanoacrylate adhesives. Potential applications of interest are as pit and fissure sealants in dentistry and for the direct bonding of orthodontic attachments.     

Activated Monomers and Nucleophilic Reagents in Addition and Polymerization Reactions

A number of examples of addition and polymerization reactions is presented with special emphasis on the chemical behaviors of activated monomers and/or activated nucleophilic reagents. Lithium alkoxyethanolate forms a complex with lithium alkyl. Spectroscopic studies showed this complex to possess agent-separated ion pairs. The nature of the complex is characterized by the enhanced reactivity of styrene in the copolymerization reaction with butadiene initiated by the complex. Magnesium alkyl can be sufficiently activated by magnesium alkoxyethanolate to polymerize styrene and diene. Aluminum alkyl and zinc alkyl are able to induce the anionic polymerization of vinyl ketones, but not of unsaturated esters or nitriles. Aluminum or zinc alkoxyethanolates fail to activate their corresponding metal alkyls. Bipyridyl, sparteine, triphenylphosphine, HMPT, and related Lewis bases, however, activate aluminum alkyl enough to react with carbon-carbon double bonds of the unsaturated esters and nitriles. Crotononitrile can be polymerized by the AIR₃-HMPT system to form a colorless polymer, where possible side reactions between CN and AIR₃ are prevented by HMPT. Mutual activation through complex formation is confirmed by a model system of a vinyl ketone with organozinc compounds. AIR₃-HMPT does not polymerize vinyl ketones because of a lack of complex formation. N-Carboxy-α-alanine anhydride (NCA) can be polymerized with zinc alkyl as initiator. The formation of activated NCA by proton abstraction from the NH group is shown to be the essential stage for polymerization. Zinc alkyl is also activated by conventional acid anhydrides. The propylene oxide ring can be cleaved with the ZnR₂-phthalic anhydride system, which is the initiation step in the alternate copolymerization between propylene oxide and the acid anhydride. The propagation mechanism of the CO₂-epoxide copolymerization is also discussed.     

Modification of transport properties of ion-exchange membranes VIII. Changes in properties of anion exchange membranes on introduction of hydrophobic groups

A copolymer membrane composed of 4-vinylpyridine-styrene-divinylbenezene was reacted with long chain alkyl bromides (octyl bromide, dodecyl bromide, and hexadecyl bromide) in order to introduce hydrophobic groups into the anion exchange membrane by the quaternization reaction. The resulting membranes show a marked increased in fixed ion concentration as a result of lowered water content. Although the electrical resistance of the membranes increased slightly, the apparent diffusion coefficient of hydrochloric acid through the membranes decreased markedly. Complete quaternization of the membranes by methyl iodide after reaction with the long-chain alkyl bromides caused an increase in the water content and in the apparent diffusion coefficient of the acid and a decrease in the current efficiency in electrodialysis of the acid. This is explained by the high water content of the anion exchange membranes quaternized by methyl iodide.     

An Improved Esterification of Carboxylic Acids Using Phase Transfer Conditions Without Solvents

Esterification of sodium salt of carboxilic acids were performed with alkyl bromide in phase-transfer conditions without solvent.     

Facile Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of 5‐Amino‐3‐methyl‐1‐phenyl‐1H‐thieno[3,2‐c]pyrazole‐6‐carbonitrile and Their Derivatives

5‐Amino‐thieno[3,2‐c]pyrazole derivative 2 was prepared by Gewald reaction in a one‐pot procedure. The amino group of compound 2 like primary aromatic amine formed the diazonium salt when treated with NaNO₂/HCl, followed by coupling with different nucleophiles to yield the azo coupling products 3a – d . The reactivity of 5‐amino‐thienopyrazole 2 has been investigated towards different electrophilic reagents such as aromatic aldehydes, alkyl halide, acid chloride, acid anhydride, phenyl isothiocyanate, carbon disulfide, ethyl glycinate, and thioacetamide, which afforded the reaction products 4 – 14 , respectively.     

Reductive activation of arenes: XIX. Mechanism and some synthetic applications of the alkylation of phthalodinitrile radical anion

Using cyclopropylmethyl bromide as mechanism-sensitive reagent, it was shown that the reaction of phthalonitrile radical anion with alkyl halides in liquid ammonia involves electron transfer. The effects of the nature of alkyl bromide and counterion in the radical anion salt and reaction conditions on the ratio of 2-alkyl-benzonitrile, 4-alkylphthalonitrile, and 2,5-dialkylbenzonitrile were studied. Phthalodinitrile radical anion was found to undergo dimerization with formation of biphenyl-2,3′,4′-tricarbonitrile. The examined transformations may underlie syntheses of phthalonitriles modified at the 4-position.     

Gas-chromatographic determination of carboxylic acid anhydrides in oxidation products of alcohols and other organic compounds

A procedure was developed for the gas-chromatographic determination of carboxylic acid anhydrides in the composition of oxidation products of organic compounds after their conversion into alkyl formate by formic acid and benzyl alcohol or other primary alcohol introduced into the reaction medium. The reaction proceeds through the mixed anhydride, which is formed in situ from formic acid and the determined anhydride and is predominantly transformed into the corresponding alkyl formate in alcoholysis with alcohol. The potentialities of the procedure were illustrated by the determination of anhydrides in oxidation products of cyclohexane, cyclohexanone, and cyclohexanol.     

Regioselective and stereospecific acylation across oxirane- and silyloxy systems as a novel strategy to the synthesis of enantiomerically pure mono-, di- and triglycerides

A trifluoroacetate-catalyzed opening of the oxirane ring of glycidyl derivatives bearing allylic acyl or alkyl functionalities with trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA), provides an efficient entry to configurationally homogeneous 1(3)-acyl- or 1(3)-O-alkyl-sn-glycerols. Selective introduction of tert-butyldimethylsilyl- (TBDMS), or triisopropylsilyl- (TIPS) transient protections at the terminal sites within these key intermediates secures 1(3)-acyl- or 1(3)-O-alkyl-3(1)-O-TBDMS (or TIPS)-sn-glycerols as general bifunctional precursors to 1,2(2,3)-diacyl-, 1(3)-O-alkyl-2-acyl- and 1,3-diacyl-sn-glycerols and hence triester isosters. Incorporation of a requisite acyl residue at the central carbon of the silylated synthons with a subsequent Et(3)N.3HF-promoted, direct trichloroacetylation across the siloxy system by trichloroacetic anhydride (TCAA), followed by cleavage of the trichloroacetyl group, affords the respective 1,2(2,3)-diacyl- or 1(3)-O-alkyl-2-acyl-sn-glycerols. Alternatively, a reaction sequence involving: (i) attachment of a trichloroacetyl fragment at the stereogenic C2-centre of the monosilylated glycerides; (ii) replacement of the silyl moiety by a short- or long-chain carboxylic acid residue by means of the acylating agent: tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (TBABr)-carboxylic acid anhydride (CAA)-trimethylsilyl bromide (TMSBr); and (iii) removal of the trichloroacetyl replacement, provides pure 1,3-diacyl-sn-glycerols. The TBABr-CAA-TMSBr reagent system allows also a one-step conversion of 1,2-diacylglycerol silyl ethers into homochiral triglycerides with predefined asymmetry and degree of unsaturation. These compounds can also be accessed via a two-step one-pot approach where the trichloroacetyl derivatives of 1,2(2,3)- or 1,3-diacyl-sn-glycerols serve as triester building blocks for establishing the third ester bond at preselected C3(1)- or C2-positions within the glycerol skeleton at the very last synthetic stage. In all instances, the target compounds were produced under mild conditions, in high enantiomeric purity, and in practically quantitative yields.     

Solubility of sodium soaps in aqueous salt solutions

The solubility of sodium soaps in dilute aqueous salt solutions has been systematically investigated by direct visual phase behavior observations. The added electrolytes, including simple inorganic salts and bulky organic salts, influence the solubility of sodium soaps in water, as represented by the varied soap Krafft point. Two inorganic salts, sodium chloride and sodium perchlorate, demonstrate a "salting-out" property. On the other hand, tetraalkylammonium bromides show an excellent ability to depress the soap Krafft point and enhance the soap solubility in water. With increasing the tetraalkylammonium ionic size, the degree of "salting-in" of soaps in water increases. However, solubility of pure tetraalkylammonium bromide in water decreases as the length of the alkyl chains increases. Furthermore, in the ternary water-tetrapentylammonium bromide (TPeAB)-sodium myristate (NaMy) system, we observed an upper cloud point phenomenon, which greatly shrinks the 1-phase micellar solution region in the phase diagram. This miscibility gap, together with the organic salt solubility limitation, restricts the use of tetraalkylammonium bromides with alkyl chains longer than 4 carbon atoms as effective soap solubility enhancement electrolytes. We also found that for sodium soap with a longer hydrocarbon chain, more tetrabutylammonium salt is required to reduce the soap Krafft point to room temperature.     

New synthetic strategies and disconnections in the synthesis of liquid crystals enabled by photoredox cross-coupling reactions

In this letter we describe the application of metallaphotoredox cross-electrophile couplings to the synthesis of liquid crystals using dual nickel and iridium catalysis. Given the proliferation of aryl and alkyl bromides in liquid crystal research we consider that the silyl-radical mediated cross-coupling of alkyl bromide with an aryl bromide (to afford a direct alkyl–aryl bond) will become an extremely powerful tool in the synthesis of liquid crystalline materials, and we use this to synthesise several well-known materials (PCH32, 5CB, CB7CB and CB15) in a single synthetic step from inexpensive and commercially available building blocks. The metallaphotoredox decarboxylative sp³–sp² cross-coupling of an aryl bromide with an alkyl carboxylic acid provides a complimentary method to form alkyl–aryl bonds, and we use this to successfully prepare trans PCH5 in a single synthetic step from commercially available building blocks. We also prepare novel methylene-linked materials in a single synthetic step, one of which exhibit the topical TB phase.     

Effect of bromide ion on the kinetics of bromination of o-hydroxy benzoic acid by bromine in aqueous solution

The kinetics of the bromination of o-hydroxy benzoic acid has been studied by rotating platinum electrode (RPE) technique. The bromide ion has been found to remarkably enhance the specific reaction rate. This is associated with a fall in energy of activation. The other added ions like nitrate, acetate and bicarbonate have shown that the base catalysis or salt effect is improbable. The mechanism suggested to explain the catalytic effect of bromide ions.     

Hydrogen‐Bonding Catalysis of Alkyl‐Onium Salts

The synthetic utility of alkyl‐onium salt compounds is widely recognized in the field of organic chemistry. Among the wide variety of onium salts, quaternary ammonium, phosphonium, and tertiary sulfonium salts have been the most useful compounds in organic syntheses. These compounds have been very useful reagents in the construction of organic building blocks. In addition, onium salts are known as reliable catalysts, which are used to promote important organic transformations by serving as phase‐transfer and ion‐pair catalysts through the activation of nucleophiles. Although phase‐transfer catalysis is a major direction for onium salt catalysis, hydrogen‐bonding catalysis of alkyl‐onium salts, which is promoted via the activation of electrophiles, has recently become a relevant topic in the field of onium salt chemistry. This Minireview introduces new possibilities and future directions for alkyl‐onium salt chemistry based on its use in hydrogen‐bonding catalysis and on its overall utility.     

Synthesis of olefins via a Wittig reaction mediated by triphenylarsine

An arsine-mediated Wittig reaction for the synthesis of olefins is described. After heating triphenylarsine in the presence of an activated alkyl bromide for 30 min, the resulting arsonium salt condensed with aldehydes in as little as 5 min at room temperature, yielding the olefins in high yields. Aromatic, heteroaromatic, and alkyl aldehydes were all suitable substrates for this process.     

Hypervalent Iodine in Synthesis 64: Syntheses of Diaryl Selenides and Alkyl Aryl Selenides by Palladium-Catalyzed Arylation of Areneselenyl or Alkaneselenyl Magnesium Bromide with Diaryliodonium Salt

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Thermal degradation of polymethacrylic acid

The thermal degradation of polymethacrylic acid was found to have two separate decomposition regions. The first decomposition region, due to anhydride formation primarily, was caused by the conversion of polymethacrylic acid to polymethacrylic anhydride. This reaction followed first-order kinetics and had an activation energy of 40.5 kcal/mol. The second decomposition region was the thermal degradation for the corresponding polymethacrylic anhydride. In this region, the fragmentation of anhydride rings structure in polymethacrylic anhydride constitutes the major decomposition reaction with an activation energy of 37.4 kcal/mol. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Reactions between a superoxide anion and alkyl bromides in dimethyl sulfoxide

The activation parameters of the reactions between a superoxide anion (O₂^·−) and alkyl bromides are measured. An ab initio study of the transition states for various mechanisms of this reaction is performed. The mechanism of radical separation in a polar solvent becomes competitive upon an increase in the number of alkyl groups in an alkyl bromide molecule and depends on their arrangement relative to a reaction center.