Evidence of char formation during wood heat treatment by mild pyrolysis

The behaviour of wood polymers during heat treatment carried out under inert atmosphere at 240 °C has been reinvestigated to understand the important decrease of the O/C ratio observed in a previous study using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Heat treatment was performed not only on beech sawdust but also on its lignin and holocellulose fractions obtained after acidic hydrolysis of polysaccharides or delignification with sodium chlorite. CP/MAS ¹³C NMR spectra indicate as previously reported an important degradation of hemicelluloses after thermal treatment. However, assignments of the signals appearing in the range of 125-135 ppm and 35 ppm attributed up to now to thermal crosslinking of lignin and formation of methylene bridges should be reconsidered. Indeed, heat treatment of the holocellulose fraction indicates quite similar signals showing that these latter are not due to lignin modification. According to the literature, these new signals have been attributed to the beginning of char formation. Determination of Klason lignin and HPLC analysis of the sugars contained in the hydrolysate support the hypothesis of formation of carbonaceous materials within the wood structure during heat treatment by mild pyrolysis.     

Characterization of milled wood lignin and ethanol organosolv lignin from miscanthus

Ethanol organosolv lignin extracted from Miscanthus × giganteus (using the following conditions: T = 190 °C, t = 60 min, sulfuric acid = 1.2% w/w, EtOH/H₂O = 0.65) and milled wood lignin from Miscanthus × giganteus were subjected to a comprehensive structural characterization by ¹³C, ³¹P NMR, FTIR, UV spectroscopies and size exclusion chromatography. The results showed that Miscanthus lignin is an H/G/S type (4%, 52%, 44% respectively) with ∼0.41 β-O-4 linkage per aromatic ring and contains coumarylate linkages (0.1/Ar). It was shown that during organosolv treatment, cleavage of β-O-4 linkages and of ester bond (acetyl and coumaryl residues) was the major mechanisms of lignin breakdown but the process did not significantly change the core of the lignin structure.     

Correlations of13C chemical shifts and geometry modifications

The effect of geometry modifications of¹³C chemical shifts has been investigated in a small subset of molecules using both LO-INDO and Gaussian 70 (4–31) calculations. The Gaussian calculations, while known to give poor absolute shifts, compare well to the reparameterized semi-empirical INDO determinations in calculated shift changes. In virtually all cases the signs of the shift changes were found to be opposite to that of the changes in the calculated electronic energy.     

The use of chemical shifts <Emphasis Type="Italic">vs.</Emphasis> coupling constants for studying tautomerism: a combined experimental and theoretical approach

When observing average NMR signals originated from a rapid equilibrium, the procedure to estimate the composition of the mixture is to use interpolation. To illustrate the difficulties of this approach, the much-studied case of the NH and OH tautomers of pyrazolinones will be reexamined. Calculated absolute shieldings and coupling constants were compared with experimental data. Although the large predominance of the OH tautomer in DMSO was confirmed, the result is a little disappointing because no consistency in the percentages was achieved using chemical shifts and coupling constants.     

Characterization of tension and normally lignified wood cellulose inPopulus maximowiczii

We have investigated unlignified tension wood and normally lignified wood celluloses inPopulus maximowiczii with particular reference to the composition of two crystalline phases I/I (triclinic/ monoclinic). Four independent techniques, which enable us to detect the two phases, CP/MAS¹³C NMR, Fourier transform infrared microscopy, selected-area electron diffraction, and X-ray diffraction were applied. Because of the low crystallinity of wood celluloses, particularly in the case of celluloses in the lignified cell wall, no single method was decisive enough to be able to determine the composition of the two phases as one can with highly crystalline materials. The I dominant structure (monoclinic crystal type) was, however, preferred for both tension and normal wood celluloses.     

Secondary structure of peptides 16th. Characterization of proteins by means of13C NMR CP/MAS spectroscopy

50.3 or 75.4 MHz¹³C NMR cross-polarization/magic angle spinning spectra of human hair, horse hair, horse hoof, parrot feather, sperm whale myoglobin, and horse heart cytochrome C were measured. The spectra of human hair and horse hair indicate nearly equal mole fractions of-sheets and-helices and a low percentage of amorphous regions, whereas horse hoof contains a higher fraction of amorphous proteins. The parrot feathers contain a small-helix fraction (ca. 10±5 %) in additon to a large-sheet fraction whereas cytochrome C contains 70–90%-helices. The spectrum of myoglobin could not interpreted in terms of defined secondary structures. The usefulness of the¹³C NMR CP/MAS spectroscopy for the characterization of proteins is compared with that of IR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction.     

Effect of chemical modifications caused by heat treatment on mechanical properties of Grevillea robusta wood

Grevillea robusta, a Kenyan wood species of low durability was heat treated under inert atmosphere in laboratory conditions at temperatures between 220 and 250 °C. Modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) were determined for different heat treatment conditions. MOR and MOE reduced with increase in heat treatment weight loss. MOE reduced insignificantly for weight loss less than 16% while reduction of MOR was more significant. For a fixed heat treatment temperature by varying the treatment duration, sugar content was analysed by HPLC after acidic hydrolysis and Klason lignin was determined. The amount of sugars other than glucose decreased with treatment time and was near zero after 7 h, while lignin quantity increased gradually. Wood acidity determined by titration decreased after heat treatment indicating degradation of uronic acids present in hemicelluloses. Chemical modifications of wood components were determined by CP/MAS ¹³C NMR analysis. Spectra indicated significant degradation of hemicelluloses. Increase of treatment duration resulted in the appearance of new signals, particularly obvious on spectra of samples treated for 15 h, attributed to carbonaceous materials involved in char formation.     

Enzymatically Synthesized Conducting Polyaniline Nanocomposites: A Solid‐State NMR Study

Abstract

The chiral conducting polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposites [polyacrylic acid/polyaniline/(?) camphorsulphonic acid (CSA)] were synthesized using enzyme, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in the aqueous buffer solution at pH 4.3. It appears that the enzyme HRP apart being a biocatalyst, plays an important role during the polymerization, which allows PANI to prefer a specific helical conformation whether the induced chirality in the monomer‐CSA complex is either by (+)CSA or (?)CSA. In this paper, we report, the structural characterization of these nanocomposites by solid‐state ¹³C cross‐polarization with magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) NMR techniques. The structural features of PANI in the conducting form of nanocomposite (as‐synthesized) are similar to that of enzymatically and chemically synthesized PANI. Preliminary data also suggest that some portion of nanocomposite samples are not completely doped. Dedoping of as‐synthesized PANI nanocomposite with aqueous NH₄OH shows the spectral features that of the emeraldine base form. Solid‐state ¹³C NMR data suggest that it is possible to detach PAA and CSA from PANI in the nanocomposite material.     

Solid-state C NMR and molecular modeling studies of acetyl aleuritolic acid obtained from Croton cajucara Benth

Solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³C NMR) with magic-angle spinning (MAS) and with cross-polarization and magic-angle spinning (CP/MAS) spectra, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques were used to obtain structural data from a sample of acetyl aleuritolic acid (AAA) extracted from the stem bark of Croton cajucara Benth. (Euphorbiaceae) and recrystallized from acetone. Since solid-state ¹³C NMR results suggested the presence of more than one molecule in the unitary cell for the AAA, DSC analysis and molecular modeling calculations were used to access this possibility. The absence of phase transition peaks in the DSC spectra and the dimeric models of AAA simulated using the semi-empirical PM3 method are in agreement with that proposal.     

Investigations of the reasons for fungal durability of heat-treated beech wood

It is generally accepted that thermal treatment of wood by mild pyrolysis (retification or torrefaction) improves its durability to fungal degradation. However, this property has recently been questioned in the literature and definitely needs further investigation. The increase in durability conferred by thermal treatment is generally explained by four hypotheses: the low affinity of heat-treated wood to water; the generation of toxic compounds during heating; the chemical modification of the main wood polymers and the degradation of hemicelluloses. This study was undertaken to understand the reasons for durability of heat-treated beech wood. In order to confirm or not the above mentioned hypotheses, the durability of heat-treated beech wood towards Coriolus versicolor was evaluated according to different parameters like mass loss, wettability or chemical composition. The heat treatment was carried out in a temperature range of 20-280 °C under inert atmosphere for 10 different temperatures. The results show clearly an important correlation between the temperature of treatment and the fungal durability. At the same time, there was insufficient evidence to support the hypothesis of improved decay resistance due to generation of fungicidal compounds or due to the hydrophobic character of wood. Finally, the most plausible hypothesis to explain improvement of wood durability concerns its chemical modifications. Indeed, degradation of hemicellulose associated with other chemical modifications appearing during treatment could be the origin of improved durability. There is a good correlation between decay resistance and mass loss measurements which are directly correlated to hemicellulose degradation.     

Polymerization of N,N-Dimethylaminopropyl-Acrylamide Through Hydrogen Transfer Induced by the Propagation of the Polyacrolein Anion

The anionic polymerization of acrolein (AL) with N, N-dimethylamino-propylacrylamide (DMAPA) in the presence of water was investigated in tetrahydrofuran, benzene, and ethanol at 0°C in a nitrogen atmosphere. The resulting polymers were found to be essentially vinyl polymers with one DMAPA attached and an aldehyde side chain. From observations of the polymerization process by ¹H NMR, we find that polymerization was initiated by the hydroxyl anion formed in the thermodynamic equilibrium between the amine of DMAPA and water. The hydrogen transfer reaction of DMAPA was caused by the propagating poly-AL anion. On the other hand, the monomer reactivity ratios and the Q₂-e₂values of DMAPA were determined by the free-radical copolymerization of styrene (St, M₁) with DMAPA and AIBN as initiator.     

Theoretical calculations of hypersurfaces of the C chemical shift anisotropy in the COHN hydrogen bond and the benefit for the ab initio structure determination

We investigated the influence of structural changes on the anisotropic part of the carbonyl ¹³C chemical shift tensor in a model complex containing hydrogen bonded cyanuric acid and pyrrole. The model was chosen for its chemical resemblance to cyameluric acid. In the solid state this compound comprises three different hydrogen bonds which are well distinguishable based on the anisotropy parameters δ_aniso and η of the carbonyl ¹³C atoms. The variation of six relevant structural variables in the model system produced hypersurfaces for the isotropic shift, δ_aniso and η. Our goal was to investigate whether such surfaces can be used for the ab initio structure determination of hydrogen bonds. With a medium size basis set it could be shown that although the absolute values differ DFT describes the relative change in δ_aniso and η close to the quality of MP2 calculations. Due to the high dimensionality of the hypersurface we had to reduce the number of variables in our study. We systematically created subsurfaces each described by three of the six variables and investigated their isolated influence on the NMR observables. We identified the most important structure parameters and on this base built a minimal model. For a fixed NO distance the hydrogen bond arrangement was altered by two angular variations and one dihedral distortion. In this model evidence was found that the η surfaces for different NO distances exhibit a uniform shape and can be transformed into one another by a simple shift and multiplication by a mean factor. Furthermore, the experimental parameters δ_aniso and η of cyameluric acid were taken as a base for the extraction of structures from the hypersurfaces. δ_aniso and η unequivocally selected ensembles of similar structure and the COHN arrangement in two of the three cyameluric hydrogen bonds could be predicted with good quality from the theoretical model. Our results show that it is possible to predict the distance and at least qualitatively the orientation in a hydrogen bond environment from an analysis of the anisotropic part of the ¹³C chemical shift tensor.     

On the accessibility and structure of xylan in birch kraft pulp

The structure of -(14)-xylan, both in isolated form and as a component of bleached birch kraft pulp, was studied employing CP/MAS ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. Bleached birch kraft pulp was treated with xylanases or alkali in order to distinguish between accessible and inaccessible xylan. In xylan which was alkali-extracted from bleached birch kraft pulp, the relative contents of xylose and 4-O-methylglucuronic acid were 99.4 and 0.6 weight %, respectively, and the degree of polymerization was 70. The supermolecular structure of xylan is very sensitive to the surrounding environment. All extracted xylan chains were accessible to water and methanol and the solvent molecules easily exchanged. In bleached birch kraft pulp, cellulose fibrils interact with xylan chains, causing these to adopt a conformation similar to one of the configurations observed for dry xylan. In birch pulp, about 1/3 of the xylan was found to be accessible to digestion by xylanases or extraction with 5% w/w potassium hydroxide (aq). A signal at 81.7ppm in the C-4 region of the CP/MAS ¹³C NMR spectrum of bleached birch kraft pulp originated from xylan at the accessible fibril surfaces. A portion of a broad signal at 83.5ppm reflected inaccessible xylan, which is probably present as co-aggregates with cellulose fibril aggregates.     

Improved reproducibility of chemical reactions on purified polystyrene resins monitored by P MAS NMR

The use of polystyrene beads from different origins in solid-phase organic synthesis was investigated after a simple cleaning procedure of the starting material. The swelling and thermogravimetric properties and the reproducibility of a five-step reaction cascade were investigated. The resin loadings of polystyrene bound phosphines were quantitatively determined by ³¹P MAS NMR via addition of triphenyl phosphate as reference compound and the loadings of intermediate products were evaluated by Fmoc cleavage.     

Characterization of waterlogged wood by NMR and GPC techniques

Anaerobic erosion bacteria can slowly degrade waterlogged wood, causing a loss of cellulose and hemicellulose. During this process, lignin can also be altered. For this reason, the chemical characterization of waterlogged archaeological wood is crucial for both the elucidation of the degradation processes and also the development of consolidation and conservation procedures.The complex structure of wood makes it practically impossible to dissolve wood in its native form in conventional molecular solvents. Ionic liquids can provide a homogeneous reaction medium for wood-based lignocellulosic materials. Highly substituted lignocellulosic esters and phosphite esters can be obtained under mild conditions by reacting pulverized wood dissolved in ionic liquid with either acyl chlorides or dioxaphospholanes in the presence of pyridine. As a result, the functionalized wood develops an enhanced solubility in molecular solvents, allowing for a complete characterization by means of spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques.In this study, archaeological woods and reference sound woods of the same taxa (Quercus and Arbutus unedo), along with the corresponding extracted lignin, were fully characterized by means of phosphorus NMR spectroscopy, two dimensional NMR spectroscopy and GPC analysis. The samples were collected from the Site of the Ancient Ships of San Rossore (Pisa, Italy), where many shipwrecks dating from 2nd century BC to 5th century AD have been discovered.The results highlighted a deeper and faster depolymerization of the polysaccharide matrix against a limited degradation of the lignin fraction. The use of innovative solvent system as the ionic liquid [amim]Cl enables to highlight chemical and morphologic changes in wood composition avoiding further degradation.     

Solid-state NMR studies of pharmaceutical solids in polymer matrices

Biodegradable drug-delivery systems can be formulated to release drug for hours to years and have been used for the controlled release of medications in animals and humans. An important consideration in developing a drug-delivery matrix is knowledge of the long-term stability of the form of the drug and matrix after formulation and any changes that might occur to the drug throughout the delivery process. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy is an effective technique for studying the state of both the drug and the matrix. Two systems that have been studied using solid-state NMR spectroscopy are presented. The first system studied involved bupivacaine, a local anesthetic compound, which was incorporated into microspheres composed of tristearin and encapsulated using a solid protein matrix. Solid-state ¹³C NMR spectroscopy was used to investigate the solid forms of bupivacaine in their bulk form or as incorporated into the tristearin/protein matrix. Bupivacaine free base and bupivacaine-HCl have very different solid-state NMR spectra, indicating that the molecules of these compounds pack in different crystal forms. In the tristearin matrix, the drug form could be determined at levels as low as 1:100 (w/w), and the form of bupivacaine was identified upon loading into the tristearin/protein matrix. In the second case, the possibility of using solid-state ¹³C NMR spectroscopy to characterize biomolecules lyophilized within polymer matrices is evaluated by studying uniformly ¹³C-labeled asparagine (Asn) in 1:250 (w/w) formulations with poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). This work shows the capability of solid-state NMR spectroscopy to study interactions between the amino acid and the polymer matrix for synthetic peptides and peptidomimetics containing selective ¹³C labeling at the Asn residue.     

光固化聚氨酯丙烯酸酯杂化材料的核磁共振谱

光固化聚氨酯丙烯酸酯杂化材料的核磁共振谱;SiO2;溶胶-凝胶法     

Structural studies of bacterial cellulose through the solid-phase nitration and acetylation by CP/MAS <Superscript>13</Superscript>C NMR spectroscopy

The solid-phase nitration and acetylation processes of bacterial cellulose have been investigated mainly by CP/MAS ¹³C NMR spectroscopy to clarify the features of these reactions in relation to the characterization of the disordered component included in the microfibrils. CP/MAS ¹³C NMR spectra of bacterial and Valonia cellulose samples are markedly changed as the nitration progresses, in a similar way to the case of cotton linters previously reported; and the relative reactivity of the OH groups in the glucose residues is found to decrease in the order of O(6)H>O(2)H>O(3)H. Moreover, the nitration rate and mode greatly depend on the concentration of nitric acid in the reaction media. At dilute and medium concentrations, the O(6)H groups in the crystalline and disordered components are subjected to nitration at nearly the same rate, indicating that these two components are distributed almost at random in the entire region of each microfibril. The preferential penetration of nitric acid into each microfibril also occurs prior to nitration at the medium concentration, resulting in an increase in the mole fraction of the disordered component. In contrast, all OH groups undergo nitration very rapidly at the higher concentration, although nitration levels off to a certain extent for O(3)H groups. In solid-phase acetylation, no regio-selective reactivity is observed among the three kinds of OH groups, which may be due to the characteristic reaction that proceeds in a very thin layer between the acetylated and nonacetylated regions in each microfibril. The almost random distribution of the disordered component in the entire region of the microfibrils is also confirmed in this solid-phase acetylation. On the basis of these results, the mechanism of the solid-phase reactions and the microfibril structure are discussed.     

A new route for the functionalisation of wood through transesterification reactions

A novel transesterification reaction between acetylated maritime pine sapwood (Pinus pinaster Soland) and methyl benzoate (MB), in the presence of dibutyltin oxide (DBTO) as a catalyst, was performed. Reaction was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance cross-polarisation with magic-angle spinning (NMR CP MAS) analysis: signals corresponding to benzoylated wood were identified and, when transesterification was performed with ethyl trimethylsilylacetate (ETMSA), characteristic trimethylsilyl groups were detected. The acetyl/benzoyl exchange rate was found to increase with increasing amount of DBTO, temperature and reaction time and a concurrent deterioration of the woody material was evidenced.     

Assessment of historic Tilia codrata wood by solid-state C CPMAS NMR spectroscopy

Historic lime (Tilia cordata Mill.) wood samples, differing by their provenance, conservation status and period have been investigated by solid-state carbon-13 cross polarization magic angle sample spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³C CPMAS NMR) spectroscopy. Structural and chemical modifications were assessed by comparing the historic samples with a reference wood sample. The conventional NMR measurements followed by the ¹³C resonance integral intensities of the wood samples have been carried out in order to acquire information of the chemical changes due to the natural ageing process taking place over the years. The main results concern the decrease of the carbohydrates moiety, especially the decrease of the hemicelluloses and amorphous cellulose signals, while the signals for aliphatic and methoxyl carbons from lignin present and increase of the intensity up to 120 years then start to decrease. At the same time a slight widening of the amorphous carbohydrate signals was observed, which may evidence the occurring of some chemical rearrangements, with the formation of new chemical species. These lead in the ¹³C NMR spectra to the line broadening of the signals induced by their chemical shifts dispersion.