Copper‐Catalyzed Intramolecular Oxidative Amination of Unactivated Internal Alkenes

A copper‐catalyzed oxidative amination of unactivated internal alkenes has been developed. The Wacker‐type oxidative alkene amination reaction is traditionally catalyzed by a palladium through a mechanism involving aminopalladation and β‐hydride elimination. Replacing the precious and scarce palladium with a cheap and abundant copper for this transformation has been challenging because of the difficulty associated with the aminocupration of internal alkenes. The combination of a simple copper salt, without additional ligand, as the catalyst and Dess–Martin periodinane as the oxidant, promotes efficiently the oxidative amination of allylic carbamates and ureas bearing di‐ and trisubstituted alkenes leading to oxazolidinones and imidazolidinones. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggested a hybrid radical–organometallic mechanism involving an amidyl radical cyclization to form the key C?N bond.     

Blends of nylon‐6 with phenol‐containing polymers

The miscibility of nylon‐6 with poly(4‐vinylphenol) (PVPh) or poly(1‐hydroxy‐2,6‐methylphenylene) (p‐Cl‐novolac) was studied with differential scanning calorimetry and small‐angle X‐ray scattering techniques. Both PVPh and p‐Cl‐novolac are miscible with nylon‐6 at the molecular level. The presence of the phenolic polymers affects the crystallization of nylon‐6 and suppresses its melting point. PVPh increases the long space order in crystalline nylon‐6 because it increases the thickness of the amorphous layers. In contrast, a small quantity of p‐Cl‐novolac tends to decrease the long space order. It seems that p‐Cl‐novolac distributed in the amorphous regions introduces more order in these regions and makes the amorphous layers thinner. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 841–850, 2001     

Synthesis and characterization of chitosan‐modified polymethyl methacrylate latex particles

Stable chitosan‐modified polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) latex particles were prepared by using 2,2′‐azobis(2‐amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (V‐50) as the cationic initiator. The polymerization rate (R_p) is controlled by the V‐50 concentration ([V‐50]) and R_p is less sensitive to the chitosan concentration ([C]) used in the synthesis work. The reaction system follows Smith–Ewart Case III kinetics due to the relatively large particles produced. The zeta potential data show that the isoelectric point (pI) of the latex particles is 10.7. The amounts of V‐50 (C_V‐50) and chitosan (C_c) ultimately incorporated into the particles correlate reasonably well with [V‐50] and [C], respectively. At pH 7, the quantity of the negatively charged bovine serum albumin (BSA, pI = 4.8) adsorbed on the positively charged chitosan‐free particles (Q) via the electrostatic interaction increases with increasing C_V‐50. However, Q is relatively insensitive to changes in C_c. This result implies that only the outermost region of the hairy chitosan‐modified particles is available for adsorption of the relatively large protein species. Colloidal stability shows a significant influence on the BSA adsorption process. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 1489–1499, 1999     

Surface activity and thermodynamic properties of water‐soluble polyester surfactants based on 1,3‐dicarboxymethoxybenzene used for enhanced oil recovery

The surface activity and thermodynamic properties for eight low molecular weight nonionic co‐polyester (PE) surfactants have been investigated. Surface and interfacial tensions (IFT) of surfactants in aqueous solutions were measured using the spinning drop technique. From these measurements, the critical micelle concentration (CMC), the surface pressure at CMC (Y_CMC), the maximum surface concentration (Γ_max), the minimum area/molecule at the aqueous solution/air interface (A_min), the effectiveness of surface tension reduction (Π_CMC), the alkane carbon number (n_min) and the IFT at n_min (Y_min) were determined. The thermodynamic parameters of micellization (ΔG_mic, ΔH_mic and ΔS_mic) and of adsorption (ΔG_ad, ΔH_ad and ΔS_ad) for these polymeric surfactants were also calculated. Structural effects on micellization and adsorption are discussed in terms of these parameters. The results show that the ΔG_ad values were more negative than ΔG_mic values for these compounds, so that they favored adsorption before the micellization process. They exhibited IFT in the order of 10⁻³ to 10⁻⁴ mN/m against the thin alkane carbon number range 6–9. This range seemed to be prefered for enhanced oil recovery. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Local and Collective Motions in Precise Polyolefins with Alkyl Branches: A Combination of 2H and 13C Solid‐State NMR Spectroscopy

Branching out : The mobility of linear polymers changes upon branching, which has a pronounced effect on processability and drawability. Regularly branched model polyolefins were studied by advanced solid‐state NMR spectroscopy, and twist defects around the branches in the crystalline regions are identified. For lower branch content, the twisting motions are decoupled; for higher content, collective motion is found (see picture).