Industrial standardization of thermal analysis in Japan

To satisfy the needs for industrial standards for thermal analysis in the Japanese polymer industry, round-robin tests of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry (TG), thermomechanical analysis (TMA) and thermodilatometry (TD) have been carried out recently. The results are discussed in this short review. The DSC applications tested were not only for determination of transition temperature but also for measurements of the transition heat and heat capacity. The TG task group did not aim at longterm thermal endurance studies, but relative thermal stability in molding and estimation of filler content, residual solvent content, etc. TMA was found to be a useful tool for measuring softening temperature and heat distortion temperature, especially for high-temperature engineering plastics, instead of the Vicat test which has temperature limitations. For temperature calibration of DSC and TG, ICTA-NIST certified reference materials were used together with other potential temperature standards; some inorganic substances and alloys were not found to be preferable to pure metals. For TMA and TD metal plates were found to be very useful for temperature calibration. Analysis of the round-robin test results also clarified present status of practical applications of thermal analysis, such as reproducibility and causes of errors. Plenary lecture     

The effect of fluorination: a crystallographic and computational study of mesogenic alkyl 4-[2-(perfluorooctyl)ethoxy]benzoates

The series of alkyl 4-[2-(perfluorooctyl)ethoxy]benzoates (F8-n) shows a systematic change of crystal structures depending on the length of the alkyl chain: separate packing of perfluorooctyl (Rf) and alkyl (Rh) chains from each other for shorter (n=2) and longer (n=11) members, alternate packing of Rf and Rh chains for middle (n=6,7) members, and an intermediate type of packing for n=4. Semiempirical MO calculations show slightly repulsive interactions between the Rf chains, and attractive ones between Rf and Rh chains and between Rh and the core of a molecular pair. It is concluded that fluorination determines the molecular shape of the crystal structures by making the chain rigid. It is confirmed that the interactions between Rf chains are small compared with those between other moieties and that they are forced to aggregate owing to the exclusion from other moieties. Thus, the effect is dependent on the geometries and intermolecular interactions of the other moieties.     

Emission of 2-phenylethanol from its β-d-glucopyranoside and the biogenesis of these compounds from [H8] l-phenylalanine in rose flowers

The hydrolysis of 2-phenylethyl β-d-glucopyranoside (3) was found to be partially inhibited by feeding with 2-phenyl-N-glucosyl-acetamidiumbromide (8), a β-glucosidase inhibitor, resulting in a decrease in the diurnal emission of 2-phenylethanol (2) from Rosa damascena Mill. flowers. Detection of [1,1,2,2′,3′,4′,5′,6′-²H₈]-2 and [1,2,2′,3′,4′,5′,6′-²H₇]-2 from R. ‘Hoh-Jun’ flowers fed with [1,1,2,2′,3′,4′,5′,6′-²H₈]-3 suggested that β-glucosidase, alcohol dehydrogenase, and reductase might be involved in scent emission. Comprehensive GC-SIM analyses revealed that [1,2,2,2′,3′,4′,5′,6′-²H₈]-2 and [1,2,2,2′,3′,4′,5′,6′-²H₈]-3 must be biosynthesized from [1,2,2,2′,3′,4′,5′6′-²H₈] l-phenylalanine ([²H₈]-1) with a retention of the deuterium atom at α-position of [²H₈]-1.     

On an elaboration of M. Kac's theorem concerning eigenvalues of the Laplacian in a region with randomly distributed small obstacles

We removem-balls of centersw ₁,...,w _m with the same radius α/m from a bounded domain Ω inR ³ with smooth boundary γ. Let μ _k (α/m;w(m)) denote thek-th eigenvalue of the Laplacian in Ω/m-balls under the Dirichlet condition. We consider μ _k (α/m;w(m)) as a random variable on a probability space (w ₁,...,w _m)∈Ω × ... × Ω and we examine a precise behaviour of μ _k (α/m;w(m)) asm → ∞. We give an elaboration of. M. Kac's theorem.     

Stereospecific polymerization of isobutyl vinyl ether. III. Polymerization with VCl3 • LiCl

The polymerization of isobutyl vinyl ether by vanadium trichloride in n-heptane was studied. VCl₃ ? LiCl was prepared by the reduction of VCl₄ with stoichiometric amounts of BuLi. This type of catalyst induces stereospecific polymerization of isobutyl vinyl ether without the action of trialkyl aluminum to an isotactic polymer when a rise in temperature during the polymerization was depressed by cooling. It is suggested that the cause of the stereospecific polymerization might be due to the catalyst structure in which LiCl coexists with VCl₃, namely, VCl₃ ? LiCl or VCl₂ ? 2LiCl as a solid solution in the crystalline lattice, since VCl₃ prepared by thermal decomposition of VCl₄ and a commercial VCl₃ did not produce the crystalline polymer and soluble catalysts such as VCl₄ in heptane and VCl₃ ? LiCl in ether solution did not yield the stereospecific polymer. It was found that some additives, such as tetrahydrofuran or ethylene glycol diphenyl ether, to the catalyst increased the stereospecific polymerization activity of the catalysts. Influence of the polymerization conditions such as temperature, time, monomer and catalyst concentrations, and the kind of solvent on the formed polymer was also examined.     

Search for a simpler synthetic model system for intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to the 5,6-double bond of a pyrimidine nucleoside

In search for a simpler model system for the study of intramolecular thermal reactions between the base and 5'-functionalized sugar moiety in nucleosides, 1-(3-azidopropyl)uracil (2), 1-(4-azidobutyl) pyrimidines (12 and 13) and 1-(5-azidopentyl)-uracil (14) was synthesized through the corresponding ω-benzoyloxy-(6,7 and 8) and ω-hydroxyalkyl-pyrimidines (9,10 and 11). Heating 2 gave 1,N⁶-trimethylene-6-aminouracil (4), while heating 12 and 13 gave N¹-C₆ cleaved addition products. 15 and 16, respectively. 15 was regiospecifically transformed to 1,2,3-triazole derivatives, 17,18 and 19. Heating 1-(4-azidobutyl)-5-bromouracil (20) yielded 3,9-tetramethylene-8-azaxanthine (22). 9 with NBA gave 1,0⁶-tetramethylene-5-bromo-6-hydroxy-5,6-dihydrouracil (24) and the 5-brominated analog of 9 (25). The 4-functionalized butyl side chain proved to serve as a substitute for the 5'-functionalized sugar moiety in pyrimidine ribonucleosides.     

Spectrophotometric determination of micro amounts of mercury,cadmium, and zinc by stepwise extraction with tribenzylamine

A rapid spectrophotometric method has been developed for the stepwise determination for mercury, cadmium, and zinc in mixtures. Optimal conditions have been established for the extraction efficiency of cadmium and mercury with a chloroform solution of tribenzylamine pre-equilibrated with hydrobromic acid. After addition of dithizone solution to the organic layers the absorbance at 490 nm or 510 nm is measured for mercury or cadmium, respectively. Even when the ratio of mercury, cadmium, and zinc is 10^-1 : 1 : 10^-5 , the metals can be determined successively.     

Synthesis of soluble aromatic polyesteramides by stepwise copolycondensation of bisphenols and aromatic diamines with diphenyl chlorophosphate in pyridine

The reaction promoted by diphenyl chlorophosphate (DPCP) in pyridine was successfully applied to the preparation of soluble aromatic copolyesteramides of high molecular weights directly from aromatic dicarboxylic acids, bisphenols, and a wide range of mol % aromatic diamines. Dropwise addition of a mixture of bisphenols and diamines (more favorably of bisphenols and then diamines) to the mixture of dicarboxylic acids activated by DPCP led the reactions homogeneously even with high mol % of diamines to produce copolymers of good solubility. This improved copolymer solubility was roughly estimated by sequence distribution of polyamide and polyester units in the copolymers, which was studied in a model reaction and in the copolycondensations by simultaneous and stepwise addition of bisphenols and diamines.     

Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of atropisomeric 2-aryl-4-quinolinone derivatives with an N–C chiral axis

In the presence of an (R)-MOP-Pd₂(dba)₃ catalyst, the reaction of ortho-tert-butylaniline with 2-bromophenyl arylethynyl ketone proceeded via a tandem amination (1,4-addition of aniline to an ynone and subsequent intramolecular Buchwald–Hartwig amination) to afford axially chiral N-(2-tert-butylphenyl)-2-aryl-4-quinolinone derivatives with moderate enantioselectivity (up to 72% ee).     

Controlled assembly of silica microspheres in spherically confined polymer particles by using self-organized precipitation (SORP) method

Assembly of submicron-sized microspheres has received much attention due to its high potential for wide variety of applications. We have developed a preparation method of polymer particles by simple mixing of a poor solvent into the polymer solution followed by evaporation of a good solvent. By using this technique, silica nanoparticles and polymer composite particles were prepared. Preparation of three-dimensional assemblies of silica particles in polymer particles and composite Janus particles are shown.