Phase‐transition characteristics of amphiphilic poly(2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazoline)/poly(ε‐caprolactone) block copolymers in aqueous solutions

Amphiphilic diblock and triblock copolymers of various block compositions based on hydrophilic poly(2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazoline) (PEtOz) and hydrophobic poly(ε‐caprolactone) were synthesized. The micelle formation of these block copolymers in aqueous media was confirmed by a fluorescence technique and dynamic light scattering. The critical micelle concentrations ranged from 35.5 to 4.6 mg/L for diblock copolymers and 4.7 to 9.0 mg/L for triblock copolymers, depending on the block composition. The phase‐transition behaviors of the block copolymers in concentrated aqueous solutions were investigated. When the temperature was increased, aqueous solutions of diblock and triblock copolymers exhibited gel–sol transition and precipitation, both of which were thermally reversible. The gel–sol transition‐ and precipitation temperatures were manipulated by adjustment of the block composition. As the hydrophobic portion of block copolymers became higher, a larger gel region was generated. In the presence of sodium chloride, the phase transitions were shifted to a lower temperature level. Sodium thiocyanate displaced the gel region and precipitation temperatures to a higher temperature level. The low molecular weight saccharides, such as glucose and maltose, contributed to the shift of phase‐transition temperatures to a lower temperature level, where glucose was more effective than maltose in lowering the gel–sol transition temperatures. The malonic acid that formed hydrogen bonds with the PEtOz shell of micelles was effective in lowering phase‐transition temperatures to 1.0M, above which concentration the block copolymer solutions formed complex precipitates. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 2400–2408, 2000     

Kinetics of graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto polychloroprene with tricaprylylmethylammonium chloride as a phase‐transfer catalyst

The phase‐transfer catalyzed graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto polychloroprene was carried out using tricaprylylmethylammonium chloride as a phase‐transfer catalyst in a two‐phase system of an aqueous Na₂S₂O₈ solution and toluene at 55 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere. The initial rate of graft copolymerization was expressed as the combined terms of quaternary onium cation and peroxydisulfate anion in the aqueous phase rather than the fed concentrations of catalyst and Na₂S₂O₈. The observed initial rate of graft copolymerization was used to analyze the graft copolymerization mechanism with a cycle phase‐transfer initiation step in the heterogeneous liquid–liquid system. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 3543–3549, 2000     

A novel approach to the characterization of end groups in styrene–methyl methacrylate copolymers by pyrolysis–gas chromatography

The end groups of styrene–methyl methacrylate (St‐MMA) copolymers polymerized radically with 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as an initiator, which are difficult to characterize even by NMR, were investigated by pyrolysis–gas chromatography. On the resulting pyrograms, characteristic products that formed from the end‐group moiety due to AIBN, such as 2‐cyanopropane, 2‐cyanopropen, and various compounds consisting of an isobutyronitrile group and a monomer unit, were observed together with those from the main chain, such as St and MMA monomers and various dimeric and trimeric products. The relative abundance between the recombination and disproportionation termination reactions in the copolymerization process was estimated from the relative intensities between the characteristic peaks of the end group and those of the main chain. Thus, the estimated abundance for the termination reactions suggested that the polymerization process for this particular copolymer system terminated preferentially by recombination rather than by disproportionation. Furthermore, the relative abundance between the monomer units adjacent to the chain‐end AIBN residues was estimated on the basis of the peak intensities of the products consisting of an isobutyronitrile group and either monomer unit, which reflected the penultimate neighboring structure of the end group in the polymer chain. Thus, the observed results suggested that the isobutyronitrile radical formed by the dissociation of AIBN in the initiation reaction was predominantly adjoined by St monomer rather than by MMA monomer. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 1880–1888, 2000     

Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates by fermentation of bacteria

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are carbon and energy reserve material accumulated by numerous microorganisms and have been drawing much attention as biodegradable substitutes for conventional nondegradable plastics and elastomers. There are a number of different PHAs having a variety of material properties based on the different monomer composition. Poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) and poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate) are now efficiently produced by bacterial fermentation at reasonable production costs. Recent advances in the production of short‐chain‐length (SCL) PHAs by bacterial fermentation are reviewed. Current status of the production of medium‐chain‐length (MCL) PHAs and SCL‐MCL‐PHA copolymers is also reviewed.     

Thermal stress analysis for polyimide thin film: The effect of solvent evaporation

We propose a stress model to account for the thermal stress caused by a mismatch of isobaric expansivity, solvent evaporation, and imidization. The evaporation strain term is given as functions of a viscosity, and solvent weight fraction. The proposed model is in very good agreement with experimental data and gives useful information about the analysis of the thermal stress caused in polymeric films.     

A Chiral Recognition Mechanism Proposed for Resolving π-Acidic Racemates on π-Acidic Chiral Stationary Phases Derived from (S)-Leucine

A chiral recognition mechanism which can rationalize the resolution of N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)-α-amino amides on chiral stationary phases (CSPs) obtained from N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)leucine amide derivatives has been proposed on the basis of the chromatographic resolution behavior of various N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)-α-amino acid derivatives and N-(various benzoyl)leucine N-propyl amides. The proposed chiral recognition mechanism utilizes two hydrogen bonding interactions between the CSP and the analyte and a π-π donor-acceptor interaction between the N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl) groups of the CSP and the analyte. From the chiral recognition mechanism proposed, it has been concluded that the resolution of π-acidic N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)-α-amino acid derivatives on π-acidic CSPs derived from N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)leucine amide delivatives is not unusual, but is merely the extension of the resolution of the π-basic racemates on π-acidic CSPs. However, the chromatographic behavior of the resolution of N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)phenylglycine derivatives on CSPs derived from N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)leucine amide derivatives is different from that of the resolution of other N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)-α-amino acid derivatives. To rationalize this exceptional behavior, a second chiral recognition mechanism which utilizes two hydrogen bonding interactions (which are different from those of the first chiral recognition mechanism) between the CSP and the analytes and a π-π donor-acceptor interaction between the N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl) group of the CSP and the phenyl group of the analytes has been proposed to compete with the first chiral recognition mechanism. In this instance, it has been proposed that the separation factors and the elution orders of the resolution of N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)phenylglycine derivatives are dependent on the balance of the two competing chiral recognition mechanisms.     

A second-order splitting combined with orthogonal cubic spline collocation method for the Rosenau equation

A second-order splitting method is applied to a KdV-like Rosenau equation in one space variable. Then an orthogonal cubic spline collocation procedure is employed to approximate the resulting system. This semidiscrete method yields a system of differential algebraic equations (DAEs) of index 1. Error estimates in L² and L^∞ norms have been obtained for the semidiscrete approximations. For the temporal discretization, the time integrator RADAU5 is used for the resulting system. Some numerical experiments have been conducted to validate the theoretical results and to confirm the qualitative behaviors of the Rosenau equation. Finally, orthogonal cubic spline collocation method is directly applied to BBM (Benjamin–Bona–Mahony) and BBMB (Benjamin–Bona–Mahony–Burgers) equations and the well-known decay estimates are demonstrated for the computed solution. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 14: 695–716, 1998     

Efficient Method for the Elongation of the N‐Acetylglucosamine Unit by Combined Use of Chitinase and β‐Galactosidase

A novel strategy for the regio‐ and stereoselective synthesis by two enzymatic steps of oligosaccharides having an N‐acetylglucosamine unit at the nonreducing end was developed. The first step involves a chitinase‐catalyzed highly selective β‐N‐acetyllactosamination of an oligosaccharide acceptor with a 4,5‐dihydrooxazole derivative of N‐acetyllactosamine as the glycosyl donor. The usage of a transition‐state‐analogue substrate for the chitinase under basic conditions allows the reaction to proceed only in the synthetic direction while suppressing hydrolysis of the product in aqueous media. Several chitinase mutants also catalyzed the glycosylation efficiently under neutral conditions. The second step is a regioselective cleavage of the glycosidic bond between the terminal galactose unit and the adjacent N‐acetylglucosamine unit by the action of a β‐galactosidase. This constitutes a very useful method to add an N‐acetylglucosamine unit to the nonreducing end of chito‐ and cello‐oligosaccharide derivatives in a regio‐ and stereoselective manner.