Multipolymers with Fischer-Tropsch olefins

Multipolymers consisting of ethylene, 1-heptene, 3-methylpentene and 4-methylpentene were prepared with a heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta catalyst. The polymers were prepared in such a way that the molar fraction of the comonomers remained the same. Copolymers of ethylene/1-heptene and ethylene/4-methylpentene were prepared in order to study the changes in polymer characteristics as one moves from an ethylene/linear alpha olefin copolymer through ethylene multipolymers to an ethylene/4-methylpentene copolymer. The mechanical, rheological and application properties showed expected trends.     

Metal-Free Electrocatalytic Diacetoxylation of Alkenes

1,2-Dioxygenation of alkenes leads to a structural motif ubiquitous in organic synthons, natural products and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Straightforward and green synthesis protocols starting from abundant raw materials are required for facile and sustainable access to these crucial moieties. Especially industrially abundant aliphatic alkenes have proven to be arduous substrates in sustainable 1,2-dioxygenation methods. Here, we report a highly efficient electrocatalytic diacetoxylation of alkenes under ambient conditions using a simple iodobenzene mediator and acetic acid as both the solvent and an atom-efficient reactant. This transition metal-free method is applicable to a wide range of alkenes, even challenging feedstock alkenes such as ethylene and propylene, with a broad functional group tolerance and excellent faradaic efficiencies up to 87 %. In addition, this protocol can be extrapolated to alkenoic acids, resulting in cyclization of the starting materials to valuable lactone derivatives. With aromatic alkenes, a competing mechanism of direct anodic oxidation exists which enables reaction under catalyst-free conditions. The synthetic method is extensively investigated with cyclic voltammetry.     

Crosslinking of porcine aortic leaflets with butane‐1,4‐diol diglycidyl ether

Currently, efforts are being made to reduce xenograft calcification and to optimize biomechanical properties by applying different crosslinking methods and techniques. Porcine aortic leaflets could be stabilized with a bisepoxy compound, butane‐1,4‐diol diglycidyl ether (BDDGE), under acidic (pH 4.5) or alkaline conditions (pH > 8.5). Maximum values of the shrinkage temperature (83°C), which are comparable to glutaraldehyde‐crosslinked materials, are achieved at pH 9.0 and 10.0 within 48 h with a BDDGE concentration of 4 wt6percnt;. The crosslinking efficacy decreased at higher pH values or at prolonged reaction times due to a higher proportion of one‐side or masking reactions. Crosslinking of aortic leaflets at pH 4.5, which consisted in a reaction between the epoxide groups of BDDGE and the carboxylic acid groups of the tissue, afforded crosslinked material with a shrinkage temperature of 76°C after 7 days of reaction.     

Gas separation membranes from tailor-made polymers

The development of tailor-made polymers as new gas separation membrane materials has lead to membranes allowing both higher selectivities as well as higher permeabilities. The increased productivity of these new membrane materials is explained in terms of a higher free volume available for gas transport.