Synthesis and characterization of new soluble thermally stable poly(azomethine‐ether‐imide)s: discerning the possibility for high temperature applications

A new series of polyimides was synthesized by the condensation of monomers (azomethine‐ether diamine, DA‐1 and DA‐2) with pyromelliticdianhydride (PMDA), 3,4,9,10‐perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PD) and 3,3′4,4′‐benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride (BD). The structural explications of monomers and polyimides was conducted by FT‐IR, ¹H NMR and elemental analysis. All polyimides were found soluble in polar aprotic solvents and found to be semicrystalline in nature confirmed by XRD. The inherent viscosities were found in the range of 0.67–0.77 g/dl. %. Average molecular weight (M_W) and number average molecular weight (Mn) of the polyimides were found in the range of 5.72 × 10⁵ g/mol–6.58 × 10⁵ g/mol and 3.79 × 10⁵ g/mol 4.11 × 10⁵ g/mol respectively. The polyimides exhibited excellent thermal properties having a glass transition temperature T_g in the range of 230–290°C and the 10% weight loss temperature was above 450°C. The values of thermodynamic parameters, activation energy, enthalpy and entropy fall in the range of 45.2–53.90 kJ/mol, 43.5–52.30 kJ/mol and 0.217 kJ/mol k to 0.261 kJ/mol k respectively. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SOLVENT QUALITY AND SOLUTION BEHAVIOR OF NYLON 12

The refractive index increment,dynamic and static laser light scattering,intrinsic viscosity[η]and Huggins constant(K_H)of nylon 12 have been measured in m-cresol and sulphuric acid/water system at 10-60℃.The intrinsic viscosity,R_H,R_g,A_2,and(~2)~(1/2)(calculated from viscosity data)and"a"values of nylon 12 are found to be higher in m-cresol than in sulphuric acid.All these parameters decrease with the increase in water contents in sulphuric acid.The refractive index increment,K_H and activation energy show an opposite trend to that of[η].The intrinsic viscosity,R_H,R_g,A_2, and(~2)~(1/2) have maximum values around 30-40℃in sulphuric acid/water system,whereas in m-cresol they fall at about 20℃.It has been concluded that the variation in size,interaction parameter(second virial coefficient),[η]and K_H of the polymer solutions with the alteration in solvent composition and temperature are the out come of change in thermodynamic quality of solvents,selective adsorption,hydrogen bonding and conformational transitions.It has also been concluded that the increase in temperature first enhances the quality of the solvent,encourages hydrogen bonding and specific adsorption, and then deteriorates,bringing conformational transitions in the polymer molecules.However,the addition of water to sulphuric acid continuously deteriorates the solvent quality.This characteristic of the solvent system brings conformational changes in the polymer especially at low temperatures.     

Antiglioma Natural Products from the Marine-Associated Fungus Penicillium sp. ZZ1750

Marine-derived Penicillium fungi are one of the most important sources for the discovery of new bioactive natural products. This study characterized the isolation, structures, and antiglioma activities of twelve compounds, including three novel ones—penipyridinone B (1), 11S-(−)-penilloid A (2), and 11R,14E-(+)-penilloid A (3)—from the marine fungus Penicillium sp. ZZ1750. The structures of the novel compounds were determined via extensive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analyses, high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (HRESIMS) data, Mosher’s method, optical rotation (OR) calculations, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. Penipyridinone B represents the first example of its structural type and showed potent antiglioma activity, with IC₅₀ values of 2.45 μM for U87MG cells and 11.40 μM for U251 cells. The known compounds of questiomycin A (9) and xanthocillin X (10) also showed antiproliferative activity against both U87MG and U251 cells, with IC₅₀ values of 13.65 μM to 22.56 μM. The antiglioma activity of questiomycin A and xanthocillin X may be related to the promotion of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, the reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and the enhancement of caspase-3 enzyme activity.     

EFFECT OF THE COMPOSITION OF m-CRESOL/H2O SOLVENT ON HYDRODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF NYLON 6

The intrinsic viscosity [ η], Huggins constant (KH), [ η]0, α3 and flow activation energy values of nylon 6 have been measured in water/m-cresol (0/100-20/80) systems at different temperatures (20-60℃). It has been found that the intrinsic viscosity, [η]0 and α3 increase with the increase in water contents in m-cresol up to 15% and then decrease. They increase with the increase in temperature irrespective of solvent composition. It has been noted that the percent increase of α3 is the highest at 60℃ and the lowest at 20℃ for a particular solvent system. The intrinsic viscosity data obey Arrhenius equation over the considered conditions. The activation energy and the KH values decrease very sharply with the addition of water,giving a minimum value at 15% of water and then increase slowly. The variation of all the parameters has been explained in terms of variation in thermodynamic quality of solvent with the addition of water to m-cresol and change in temperature,resulting in the change of conformational and orientational properties of polymer molecules. This change of solvent quality also results in variation of selective sorption of solvent over the polymer, such as hydrogen bonding, etc.     

Synthesis characterization and biological study of diorganotin(IV) complexes of monomethyl phthalate

The synthesis and characterization of new coordination compounds of some organotin(IV) chlorides with monomethyl phthalate is reported; the ligand molecules appear to be bound to the tin atom through carbonyl oxygen atoms. Their structures have been characterized by elemental analyses, molar conductance, and bonding in these complexes is discussed in terms of their IR, (1)H, (13)C, (119)Sn NMR and (119 m)Sn M?ssbauer spectral studies. The spectroscopic results obtained are in full agreement with the proposed 2:1 stoichiometry. The complexes soluble in DMSO have been screened against a wide spectrum of bacteria and the results obtained are quite promising. The LD(50) values have also been determined in the albino rats. Some of the complexes also exhibit high anti-inflammatory activity.     

Biological aspects of new organotin(IV) compounds of 3-maleimidopropionic acid

Four new compounds of organic mono carboxylic acid, 3-maleimidopropionic acid; with Bu₂Sn(IV)²⁺, Ph₃Sn(IV)⁺ and Cychex₃Sn(IV)⁺ having ligand to metal ratio 1:2 and 1:1 were prepared. The spectrophotometric techniques used for structure determination like ¹H-, ¹³C- and ¹¹⁹Sn-NMR, FT IR and ^119mSn Mössbauer have demonstrated that the organotin(IV) moieties establish chemical bonding with the ligand through carboxylic oxygen atom. The percent CHN analyses and MS data also corroborates the spectroscopic results. During in vitro LD₅₀, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-yeast bioassays promising results were exhibited. In vitro anti-tumour activity assays against five human tumor cell lines, MCF-7 Breast cancer-EVSA-T Breast cancer-WiDr Colon cancer-IGROV Ovarian cancer-M226 Non small cell lung cancer and anti-inflammatory screenings furnished the significant toxicities of the title complexes. In addition the triorganotin(IV) complexes were comparatively less toxic than the diorganotin(IV) complexes.     

Analysis of alumina-based titanium carbide composites by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

In this work, alumina (Al₂O₃) containing different volume % of titanium carbide (TiC) ranging from 0 to 30 were consolidated by the novel spark plasma sintering. The spectroscopic analysis of the plasma generated by irradiation of laser Nd:YAG (λ = 1,064 nm) on different concentrations of the composites in air atmospheric pressure was performed. The qualitative examination of the composites confirms the presence of aluminum, titanium, and carbon as major elements, while magnesium and sodium have been found as minor trace elements. Plasma parameters were estimated by assuming the LTE conditions for optically thin plasma. The electron density and temperature were evaluated by using the Stark broadening and intensity of selected aluminum emission lines, respectively. The addition of TiC to Al₂O₃ shows a linear behavior with plasma temperature corroborated by the calibration curve of Ti in the composites. The results suggest that calibration curve between plasma temperature and the composites can be used to estimate different concentrations of TiC in Al₂O₃ without analyzing the whole elements in the composites and thus opens up new applications of LIBS in ceramic industry.     

Conformational behavior of nylon 6 in mixed solvents

The intrinsic viscosity [η], Huggins constant (K_H), laser light scattering, UV and IR measurements of Nylon 6 are made in m‐cresol and its mixture with 1,4‐dioxane at 20–60 °C. The intrinsic viscosity, R_g, A₂, (<S>²)^1/2 (calculated from viscosity data), R_H, and UV absorbance initially increase and then decrease with the rise in 1,4‐dioxane contents. The K_H and the transmittance of ? OH group in IR spectra show an opposite trend to that of [η]. The dielectric constant calculated from the refractive index of the solvent (m‐cresol with 1,4‐dioxane) and polymer solution shows a continuous decrease with the amount of 1,4‐dioxane. Activation energy shows a minimum while linear expansion coefficient (α³) maximum with the addition of 1,4‐dioxane. Change in [η], K_H, and other characteristics of the polymer solutions with alterations in solvent composition and temperature are the result of variation in the thermodynamic quality of the solvent, its selective adsorption, hydrogen bonding, and conformational transitions. It has been concluded that the addition of 1,4‐dioxane first enhances the quality of the solvent, encourages hydrogen bonding, and specific adsorption, and then deteriorates, bringing conformational transitions in the polymer molecules. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 534–541, 2005     

The effect of inactive impurities on a surface in NO-CO reaction: A Monte Carlo simulation

The interaction among the reacting species in the NO-CO reaction on a metal catalytic surface that proceeds according to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood thermal mechanism is studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The study of this system is essential for the understanding of the influence of impurities on the catalytic oxidation of NO by CO. It is found that this complex system exhibits irreversible phase transitions between active states with sustained reaction and poisoned states without reaction. The same system has also been investigated by non-thermal (Eley-Rideal) mechanism. Both the phase diagrams of the surface coverage and the steady state production of CO₂ and N₂ are evaluated as a function of the partial pressures of the reactants in the gas phase. From this study, it is observed that with the increase of impurities, the production rate reduces and the reaction stops at a certain point. Moreover, the first order transition in the phase diagram converts into second order phase transition that is in accordance with the experimental findings. Therefore, the first order phase transition, which is a characteristic of such catalytic reactions, is eliminated.