Reactive polymers incorporating silyl enol ether groups. I. synthesis by radical polymerization of 2-(trimethylsiloxy)-butadiene and 2-(tert)-butyldimethylsiloxy butadiene

2-(Trimethylsiloxy)butadiene (TMSBD) and 2-(tert-butyldimethylsiloxy)butadiene (TBMSBD) were copolymerized with styrene (St) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) under free-radical conditions. The obtained polymers were found to contain reactive silyl enol ether groups in a ratio identical to the TMSBD or TBMSBD molar fraction in the copolymer. All investigated samples displayed only 1,4- and 3,4-microstructures. The influence of several experimental factors on the yields, rates of polymerization, microstructures, and copolymer compositions were examined. Monomer reactivity ratios r₁ and r₂ at 60°C were determined from copolymer composition curves at low conversions. The homopolymerization of TBMSBD was also investigated and results were compared with those previously obtained for TMSBD. A slight increase in rates was observed and was rationalized on the basis of the higher viscosity resulting from the structural change in the monomer. Thermal stabilities of the synthesized polymers were investigated by TGA and their glass transition temperatures were determined by DSC. All measurements are compatible with a possible use of TMSBD and TBMSBD copolymers as reactive polymers. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

GC-MS headspace analysis of the volatile components of soya oil without heating the sample

The analysis of volatile compounds, and particularly of certain hydrocarbons, e.g. pentane, and some aldehydes, e.g. hexanal, has been used to estimate the degree of oxidation of vegetable oil. We have tested a dynamic headspace technique without heating the sample during the purge time of the analysis. Some tests have been performed after heating the sample at 180°C for a specified time before the analysis, to compare the results of analysis with and without heating. The best results were obtained at room temperature.     

Estimation of the surface energetic heterogeneity of fillers by inverse gas chromatography

The surface properties of the fillers are determining for obtaining high performance filled polymers. Yet, their determination is most difficult. This paper proposes to use inverse gas chromatography, either at infinite dilution or finite concentration conditions, to estimate surface energy and nanomorphological characteristics, but also surface heterogeneity of different clays, talcs of various origins and ground muscovites.     

Effect of the topology on the gaussian elasticity of a network. The example of a fractal topology

By considering fractal topologies of polymer networks, we show that one can obtain much smaller values of the elastic modulus than predicted by classical models for the same density of crosslinks. In a regular fractal such as the Sierpinski gasket, one can replace the segments joining the modes by Gaussian chains. This allows one to draw some micronetworks of rank k = 1, 2 etc., with no dangling ends except for the few external points (3 for any rank). Within the frame of the phantom network model, we calculate the elastic modulus of the micronetwork. It varies as p^k−1 for p < 1, which leads, even for rather small orders k such as 2, 3, to values lower than the classical James and Guth modulus, which actually corresponds to the connectivity of a tree. Thus there is an influence of the topology. Fluctuations of the positions of crosslinks and of the distance between two crosslinks are estimated and are found to correspond to a lower deformation of the chains. Whether these topologies are more than an example and could explain the anomalies observed experimentally is a postponed discussion.     

Recent developments in heterocyclic systems with a Si–M′–Ge or Ge–M′–Ge linkage (M′ = Fe,Ru, or Co)

The present review describes recent work on the synthesis, spectroscopic analysis, and investigation of the chemical behaviors of new polynuclear heterocyclic complexes 1–7 having M–M′–M catenation. Various CO substitution, cleavage, expansion, and adducts decomposition reactions are described.     

Enhancement of inhomogeneities in gels upon swelling and stretching

In this paper, it is shown how a percolation process can be used to describe the inhomogeneities of polymer concentration, appearing in gels prepared by random crosslinking of a semi-dilute solution, and how they are modified by swelling or stretching of the network. Neutron scattering experimental data are compared to the predictions of this model in the isotropic and anisotropic cases. A good agreement is found. In particular, “abnormal” butterfly patterns in the iso-intensity curves have been detected, as expected from the model.     

Chemometrics in chromatography

The impact of chemometrics in chromatography is presented. The development of systematic experiments is encouraged to exploit simultaneously the richness of teh chromatographic data and the possibilities of complementary data processing techniques.     

Expedient BINOL derivative arylations

A dramatic improvement of our previous methodology based on a Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling to access 3,3′-disubstituted H₈-BINOLs using microwave heating is reported herein. These new conditions represent a large gain in term of atom-economy, reaction time, catalyst loading, and excess of reagents employed.