Dependence of the kinetics of the anionic polymerization of methyl methacrylate on the concentration in active centers

Studies on the anionic polymerization of methyl methacrylate in tetrahydrofuran and in the presence of sparteine have revealed a beneficial effect due to this additive, resulting in a decrease in the extent of termination. Better control of the definition of the polymers formed can thus be achieved in the presence of this additive. On the other hand, macromolecular engineering requires a range of active species concentrations lower than 10^?3 mol L^?1 and particularly the synthesis of polymers of high molar masses. For a better understanding of the mechanism of chain growth under such concentration conditions, the kinetics of polymerization have been investigated with a technique based on adiabatic calorimetry. Sparteine has been found to lack sufficient cation‐binding power to prevent the propagating enolate ion pairs from aggregating. The rate constant of propagation of nonaggregated species has been estimated, as well as the aggregation constant of equilibrium. For very low initiator concentrations, termination reactions have been shown to profoundly alter the control of the polymerization and to prevent a quantitative monomer conversion. Theoretical maximal conversions have been calculated from kinetic data and compare well with the experimental values. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4964–4975, 2004     

Comparative behavior of polybutadiene and polynorbornene‐based latices prepared by dispersion ring‐opening metathesis polymerization with a poly(ethylene oxide) macromonomer

This study critically examines the similarities and differences between poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) stabilized latices of polynorbornene and polybutadiene. Features such as the kinetics of copolymerization of norbornene and cyclooctadiene with a macromonomer of PEO, the particles' size and morphology, the type of copolymer formed, and the stability of these latices were investigated and the results obtained are considered. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 2705–2716, 2004     

Convexes divisibles III

Let Δ₀ be a group of finite type and FΔ₀⊂Hom(Δ₀,PGL(Rm)) be the subset of faithful representations for which there exists a properly convex Δ₀-invariant open subset Ω in P(Rm) such that the quotient Δ₀\Ω is compact. Koszul has proved in [J.L. Koszul, Déformation des connexions localement plates, Ann. Inst. Fourier 18 (1968) 103-114] that this subset FΔ₀ is open. We describe the closure of FΔ₀. As a consequence, we show that this subset FΔ₀ is closed if and only if the virtual center of Δ₀ is trivial. This condition is satisfied if and only if FΔ₀ contains a strongly¹ irreducible representation.     

A chemical study of 2-butyne-1,4-diol

Commercial grade 2-butyne-1,4-diol has been used in electroplating for several years. In laboratory experiments, its presence in the electrolyte increases the current efficiency of zinc electro-winning. Its chemical behaviour in solution is not well known. The present paper indicates that the brownish technical grade 2-butyne-1,4-diol contains the monomer, the dimer and some trimer. Pure monomeric 2-butyne-1,4-diol is a white solid obtained by evaporation of the technical grade product. The monomer is slowly transformed into dimer and possibly into a trimer when dissolved in water. Various analytical techniques were used in the study of this system. Factor analysis with column cross-validation was applied to chromatographic data to help in the resolution of the system.     

Half-Projected and Projected Hartree-Fock Calculations for Singlet Ground States. i. four-Electron Atomic Systems

The half-projected Hartree-Fock function (HPHF ) for singlet states is defined as a linear combination of two Slater determinants, which contains only spin eigenfunctions with even quantum number. Using a self-consistent procedure based on the generalized Brillouin's theorem, the RHF , HPHF and PHF functions are deduced for the ground states of the Li^?, Be, B⁺, and C²⁺ systems, in a limited basis set. It is found that the HPHF function yields better energy values than the RHF function, very close to that of the PHF one. The HPHF scheme seems thus to be useful as a substitute for the PHF model, specially in the case of large electronic systems in which the latter method becomes unmanageable.     

PFGSE-NMR study of the self-diffusion of sucrose fatty acid monoesters in water

The micellization of pure monosubstituted sucrose fatty acid esters in water, namely sucrose octanoate, sucrose decanoate, sucrose laurate, sucrose dodec-5-cis-enoate, sucrose myristate, and sucrose palmitate, has been investigated by means of two NMR methods, pulsed field gradient spin-echo NMR (PFGSE-NMR), giving access to the self-diffusion coefficients of free molecules and micelles in solution, and the ERETIC method (electronic reference to access in vivo concentrations) for the measurement of concentrations by external calibration of a synthetic NMR signal. The early micellar regions and, when possible, the premicellar regions were investigated. By this method, we obtained the hydrodynamic radii of micelles, displaying a linear progression in relation to the chain length and an accurate determination of critical micellar concentration (CMC) for each sucrose ester. The effect of the regiochemistry of fatty chain grafting has been investigated, showing special behavior for 1'-O-sucrose palmitate.     

Recherches sur la structure électronique de composés soufrés (méthode L.C.A.O. améliorée)

Improved L.C.A.O. method primitively built for conjugated molecules holding only atoms of second row in the periodic classification is extended to molecules holding atoms of the third row. The application is done for thiophen, thioketones, SO₂ and SO₃. d orbitals are not introduced in this study. Discussion about results shows that d orbitals must be introduced when the sulphur atom is strongly positively charged like in sulphur oxides.     

Hydrazide-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar nitrone cycloadditions

The triflate salts of cyclic hydrazides function as asymmetric catalysts for the [3+2]cycloadditions of nitrones with α,β-unsaturated aldehydes. The camphor-derived hydrazides show a preference for the exo isomers during these reactions, providing a compliment to other organically catalyzed dipolar cycloadditions. Enantiomeric excesses as high as 93% were realized for the exo isomers, while some endo products were obtained in 94% ee.