Characterization of Polymers by Direct Pyrolysis/Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry

The characterization of polymers by pyrolysis directly in the ion source of a double focusing magnetic sector mass spectrometer, operating in the chemical ionization mode, is described. Pyrolysis is achieved by two different probe techniques. A low temperature, slow heating rate direct insertion probe (DIP) is used at 400°C, and a specifically constructed high temperature, fast heating rate, high temperature pyrolysis (HTP) probe is used at 1000°C. This probe is capable of achieving pyrolysis temperatures of 1200°C at controlled heating rates up to 20,000°C/s. The mass spectrometric analysis of the pyrolysis products was achieved under chemical ionization (CI) conditions utilizing methane, isobutane, and ammonia as reagent gases. Under CI conditions the molecular ions formed in the mass spectrometer show little tendency to fragment. The CI mass pyrograms are very simple, with each peak in the spectra ascribable to a particular component in the pyrolysis product mixture. The results of the two probe pyrolysis techniques are compared and the utility of each technique for the characterization of polymers is demonstrated using the vinyl polymers polymethyl methacrylate, polyvinyl chloride, and polystyrene.     

Preparation of Polystyrene-supported N-phenyl-N-acyl Sulfonamide Resin and its Application in Solution-phase Synthesis of Amides

Polystyrene-supported N-phenyl-N-acyl sulfonamide resin was prepared by reacting polystyrene sulfonyl chloride resin with aniline and acylating in pyridine with either acid chlorides or anhydrides. Then, this resin was utilized as a new type of acyl transfer reagent to synthesize the amide library. It was approved to be a more effective acyl transfer reagent with higher amide yields than the polystyrene-supported N-methyl-N-acyl sulfonamide resin and N-benzyl-N-acyl sulfonamide resin. When the phenyl group bonded to the N atom on N-phenyl-N-acyl sulfonamide resin was substituted by the electron withdrawing group or electron donating group, a decreasing amide yield was obtained. N-phenyl-N-acyl sulfonamide resin could be regenerated many times.     

Synthesis of Sub-100 nm Nanoparticles by Emulsifier-free Emulsion Polymerization of α-Methylstyrene,Methyl Methacrylate and Acrylic Acid

The emulsifier-free emulsion copolymerization of α-methylstyrene (AMS) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of functional monomer acrylic acid (AA) was carried out in batch process, giving birth to sub-100 nm nanoparticles. The kinetics of polymerization was investigated. The morphology and size of particles were monitored by TEM. The influences of the functional monomer AA concentration, initiator ammonium persulfate (APS) concentration, and polymerization temperature were studied. It was found that AMS caused a drastic decrease in both the rate of polymerization and the average degree of polymerization. The activation energy calculated from Arrhenius plot turned out to be 83.6 kJ/mol.     

Thermal Degradation of HDPE in a Batch Pressure Reactor: Reaction Time and Mechanical Stirring Effect

The effect of reaction time and mechanical stirring on thermal degradation of high density polyethylene(HDPE) was studied at 350°C under nitrogen atomosphere in a batch pressure reactor. Changes in molecular weight(MW), molecular weight distribution (MWD), and crystalline behaviors of the degraded products were investigated by gel chromatography (GPC) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was found that MWD curves all shifted toward lower molecular weight with increasing reaction time, with both the extent of the movement and its showing a rapid initial drop and then leveling off. In a short period of reaction time, the MW, MWD and crystalline behaviors of the degraded products were affected notably by the mechanical stirring. The of the degraded products without stirring was lower than that of products with stirring in the same time, which should be related to the large difference of temperature distributions in the reactor. When the reaction time reached 4 h, the of the degraded products had dropped to about 5 × 10³g/mol from about 3 × 10⁵g/mol for the original , and the product did not show the melting and crystallization behaviors of high density polyethylene again.     

Synthesis of Conjugated Optically Active Polymetallocenes

The development of methodology for synthesizing new materials in which metal atoms are linked by hydrocarbons whose electronic conjugation is unbroken is described. The fundamental idea is to twist the hydrocarbons into helices. By attaching bulky groups to their precursors, the helices can be made to twist mainly in one direction. The molecules synthesized are helicenes capped by five-membered rings to which metals are attached. If the size of the helix is chosen appropriately, a polymeric structure forms in which hydrocarbon rings and metal atoms alternate. An oligomer with Structure 22 is the first such material prepared. It and related structures might be precursors of molecular solenoids, examples of which are not yet known.     

The Relationship of Reaction Temperature,Tg and Rich‐Syndiotacticity of Poly(alkyl methacrylate)s in Modified Microemulsion Polymerization

Nanoscale poly(alkyl methacrylate)s including poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(ethyl methacrylate), poly(cyclohexyl methacrylate), poly(iso‐butyl methacrylate) and poly(benzyl methacrylate) were prepared by a modified microemulsion polymerization procedure. NMR analysis suggested that these poly(methacrylate)s samples were higher in syndiotactic content, lower in isotactic content and the glass transition temperatures (T_gs) of them were also higher than those reported in the literature. The tacticities of the poly(methacrylate)s, beside the restricted volume effect of nanoparticles during the modified microemulsion polymerization, were mainly influenced by the reaction temperature, the lower the reaction temperature, the higher the syndiotacticity of the products. The syndiotacticity of the product decreased obviously when the polymerization was carried out at a temperature far above the T_g of the resulting polymer. It was also shown that the tacticity of the polymer was affected by the monomer structure, a monomer with the bulkier alkyl side group would liable to result in a polymer with richer syndiotacticity. Possible mechanism of rich‐syndiotacticity was also discussed.     

Synthesis of Low Molecular Distribution Dihydric Polybutadiene in the Presence of Triflic Acid

A method is described for the preparation of functional polybutadiene (PB) with hydroxyl groups along the polymer chain. This material can be used directly or as the starting substrate for further polymerization in both academic and industrial processes. We have developed a convenient method to obtain a polymer with a narrow molecular weight distribution and with a known content of hydroxyl groups along the backbone. By controlling the hydroxylation reaction conditions, the appropriate molar ratios of THF, water and acid with the epoxide are 30, 15 and 1.5, respectively. By minimizing the crosslinking reaction, the desired PB was prepared and subsequently characterized.     

Deuterium NMR of Strained Swollen Crossunked Elastomers: Effect of Crosslink Density on the Orientational Order of Chain Segments

The 2H NMR of uniaxially strained swollen chloroprene rubbers and butadiene-styrene copolymers with different crosslink densities is studied. the relative number of chain segments between cross-links of various samples is obtained. the results are in approximate agreement with those obtained from the Flory equilibrium-swelling method. It is found that the enhancement factor G depends not only on the lattice-walk model and swelling of rubber, such as Tanaka etc. expected, but also on the crosslink density and the structure of the rubber. the formula relating G to the number of chain segments between cross links is derived from theory. Moreover, we can also estimate the relation between the enhancement factor Gr of real rubber and G calculated from the theory of the lattice model. the 2H NMR results of these samples indicate that the interaction between chain segments decreases with increasing crosslink density.     

Effect of the self-assembly of collagen on crystallisation of calcium carbonate in aqueous solution

In order to investigate how the self-assembly of organic matrix influences crystallisation and growth of inorganic minerals, we selected collagen as the matrix and conducted three experiments of crystallisation of CaCO₃ in different reaction systems: H₂O system, as-assembled collagen fibrils system and self-assembling of collagen system. It is found that (i) the self-assembly process of organic matrix had a remarkable effect on the morphology of inorganic minerals: CaCO₃ crystals formed in the as-assembled collagen fibrils system were global clusters and those formed in the self-assembling of collagen system appeared as interlaced networks and (ii) the organic matrix decided the polymorph of crystals: CaCO₃ crystals were calcite in the H₂O system and appeared vaterite in the collagen system. From this study, we can conclude that the self-assembly of collagen fibrils greatly affect the crystallisation and growth of CaCO₃. Such results are significant in understanding the mechanism of biomineralisation in calcified tissues in general, and useful in the synthesis of biominerals.

(a)?CaCO₃ formed in the as-assembled collagen fibrils system. (b)?CaCO₃ formed in the self-assembling of collagen monomer system.The TEM images of samples obtained in the as-assembled collagen fibrils and self-assembling of collagen monomer system, were observed, respectively. The result shows that crystals CaCO₃ formed in the as-assembled collagen fibrils system were global clusters; crystals CaCO₃ formed in the self-assembling of collagen monomer system appeared interlaced networks.     

Enantioselective Recognition for Carboxylic Acids by Novel Chiral Macrocyclic Polyamides Derived from L-/D-tartaric Acid

The enantioselectivity of chiral macrocyclic polyamides 1–3 derived from L-/D-tartaric acid was investigated by using ¹H NMR. All the macrocycles exhibited certain chiral recognition towards the enantiomers of the racemic carboxylic acids we had chosen. As a chiral solvating agent, the compound 3 has the excellent enantiomeric discriminating ability for mandelic acids and its derivatives, containing an α-OH at the chiral carbon, while the compound 2 has the best enantioselectivity towards dibenzoyltartaric acid. The molar ratio and the association constants of the compound 3 with each of the enantiomers of some guest molecules were determined by using the Job's plots and a nonlinear leastsquares fitting method, respectively. The effect of the structure of the hosts or guests on the enantioselectivity of the compound 1–3 has been explored.