Cetyltrimethylammonium hydroxide (CTAOH) as a general, ecofriendly catalyst for the formation of carbon-carbon bond through nitroalkanes

Nitroalkanes have been found to give good yields in Michael and nitroaldol (Henry) reactions by the use of a catalytic amount (10 mol%) of CTAOH, at room temperature and under solvent free conditions and in very short reaction times. The methods do not need a large excess of the nitroalkanes and show good chemoselectivity toward further functionalities.     

Synthesis of poly(vinyl chloride)‐b‐poly(n‐butyl acrylate)‐b‐poly(vinyl chloride) by the competitive single‐electron‐transfer/degenerative‐chain‐transfer‐mediated living radical polymerization in water

The synthesis of a block copolymer poly(vinyl chloride)‐b‐poly(n‐butyl acrylate)‐b‐poly(vinyl chloride) is reported. This new material was synthesized by single‐electron‐transfer/degenerative‐chain‐transfer‐mediated living radical polymerization (SET‐DTLRP) in two steps. First, a bifunctional macroinitiator of α,ω‐di(iodo)poly (butyl acrylate) [α,ω‐di(iodo)PBA] was synthesized by SET‐DTLRP in water at 25 °C. The macroinitiator was further reinitiated by SET‐DTLRP, leading to the formation of the desired product. This ABA block copolymer was synthesized with high initiator efficiency. The kinetics of the copolymerization reaction was studied for two PBA macroinitiators with number–average molecular weight of 10 k and 20 k. The relationship between the conversion and the number–average molecular weight was found to be linear. The dynamic mechanical thermal analysis suggests just one phase, indicating that copolymer behaves as a single material with no phase separation. This methodology provides the access to several block copolymers and other complex architectures that result from combinations of thermoplastics (PVC) and elastomers (PBA). From industrial standpoint, this process is attractive, because of easy experimental setup and the environmental friendly reaction medium. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 3001–3008, 2006     

Single electron transfer–degenerative chain transfer living radical polymerization of N‐butyl acrylate catalyzed by Na2S2O4 in water media

Living radical polymerization of n‐butyl acrylate was achieved by single electron transfer/degenerative‐chain transfer mediated living radical polymerization in water catalyzed by sodium dithionate. The plots of number–average molecular weight versus conversion and ln[M]₀/[M] versus time are linear, indicating a controlled polymerization. This methodology leads to the preparation of α,ω‐di(iodo) poly (butyl acrylate) (α,ω‐di(iodo)PBA) macroinitiators. The influence of polymerization degree ([monomer]/[initiator]), amount of catalyst, concentration of suspending agents and temperature were studied. The molecular weight distributions were determined using a combination of three detectors (TriSEC): right‐angle light scattering (RALLS), a differential viscometer (DV), and refractive index (RI). The methodology studied in this work represents a possible route to prepare well‐tailored macromolecules made of butyl acrylate in an environmental friendly reaction medium. Moreover, such materials can be subsequently functionalized leading to the formation of different block copolymers of composition ABA. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2809–2825, 2006     

Long-Range proton-proton coupling constants. I. Propanic coupling involving a methyl group 4JMeH

An equation is formulated on the basis of theoretical INDO/FPT calculations which describes the angular dependence of the propanic long-range coupling constant ⁴J_MeH in substituted HCCCH₃ fragments. This equation is a truncated Fourier series in the torsion angle ?, HCCMe, which takes into account the dependence of the Fourier coefficients on the bond angle θ, CCMe. The substituent effects are assumed to be additive. Some parameters in the equation may be obtained from the ⁴J_MeH couplings in propane and neopentane derivatives. The calculated effect upon ⁴J_MeH of changes in the bond angle θ is significant and it seems to be in part the cause of some effects which have been attributed to conformational dependence.     

Ketene dithioacetal derivatives of 1-phenyl-3,5-dioxopyrazolidine. Synthesis and NMR characterization

1-Phenyl-3,5-dioxopyrazolidine 1 reacts with carbon disufide and alkyl halides in presence of excess of sodium acetate in dimethylformamide to afford the ketene dithioacetals 3a-h . The ¹³C chemical shift assignments of these compounds were made on the basis of two-dimensional nmr studies performed on the N-methylketene dithioacetal derivative 4.     

Role of vibrationally excited NO in promoting electron emission when colliding with a metal surface: a nonadiabatic dynamic model

A nonadiabatic quantum dynamic model has been developed to study the process of electron emission from a low-work-function metal surface. The process is initiated by scattering a highly vibrationally excited NO molecule from a surface composed of a Cs layer covering a Ru crystal. The model addresses the increasing quantum yield of the electron emission as a function of the molecular vibrational excitation and incident kinetic energy. The reaction mechanism is identified as a long-range harpooning electron transfer to a molecular ion which is then accelerated toward the surface. Upon impact, the molecular ion emits its excess electron.     

Analysis of the Micropore Structure of Various Microporous Materials from Nitrogen Adsorption at 77 K

The micropore structure of four microporous materials (two zeolites, ZSM-5 and Y-82; an activated carbon and an alumina pillared clay) and their binary physical mixtures (50-50 wt%) have been examined by nitrogen adsorption at 77 K. Various micropore sizes have been considered from the stages on the micropore filling mechanism in the microporous materials. The application of the Dubinin-Astakhov (DA) equation to characterize and obtain the adsorption potential distributions of the microporous materials is presented.     

Photodegradation of a 1,3,4-thiadiazole-urea herbicide. Isolation,characterization, X-ray crystal structure and synthesis of photoproducts

The photodegradation of 1,3-dimethyl-1-(2-(3-fluorobenzylthio)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-5-yl)urea as a thin film and in solution is described. The two photoproducts from thin-film photolysis were characterized by spectral and synthetic methods. The X-ray crystal structure of one of the photoproducts is also reported. The rearrangements were shown to involve an S-to-N benzyl migration, followed by a sulfur-oxygen substitution.     

IR study of heterogeneity of OH groups in zeolite HY-splitting of OH and OD bands

We have been studying the problem of heterogeneity of OH groups in zeolites HY for a long time. The heterogeneity was suggested by the shift of the IR band of OH groups restoring upon ammonia desorption and also by the fact that the band of OH groups forming hydrogen bonds was relatively broad (broader than for homogeneous acidic OH). In the present study we present another important argument for heterogeneity: the splitting of the IR band of free OH and OD groups in a zeolite of Si/Al=8.3 dealuminated by (NH₄)₂SiF₆ treatment. Such a splitting is the best seen in low temperature spectra of OD groups. We found less acidic 3640 cm⁻¹ (AlO)(SiO)₂SiO₁HAl(OSi)₃ and more acidic 3625 cm⁻¹ (SiO)₃SiO₁HAl(OSi)₃ groups. The presence of these two kinds of hydroxyls corresponds to the presence of Si(2Al) and Si(1Al), respectively, detected in ²⁹Si MAS NMR spectra. We also found a small amount of strongly acidic 3599 cm⁻¹ hydroxyls interacting with extraframework Al species.