Polymer reactions. V. Kinetics of autoxidation of polypropylene

The rate constants for the autoxidation of polypropylene were determined by a combined ESR, volumetric, and chemical method. The values of k_i, k_p, and k_t at 110°C. are 3 × 10^?4 sec.^?1, 1.9 l./mole-sec., and 3 × 10⁶ l./mole-sec., respectively. The values of k_i and its activation energy are the same as those for the decomposition of polypropylene hydroperoxide, thus identifying the latter as the principal initiation process. The values of the temperature-independent k_t suggest that secondary peroxy radicals are the terminating species. The rate constants are compared with rate constant ratios for initiated autoxidations of squalane and other related systems.     

Magnesium chloride supported high mileage catalysts for olefin polymerization. XXI. Isospecific and regiospecific vanadium catalyst for propylene polymerization

Several CW–V catalysts were prepared by supporting VCl₄ on Mg Cl₂ with ethyl benzoate and CH–V catalysts prepared by reacting MgCl₂.ROH, phthalic anhydride, and VCl₄. These vanadium catalysts, activated with TEA (triethyl aluminum)/MPT (methyl-p-toluate) produce mainly (88–96%) refluxing n-heptane insoluble isotactic PP. The active site has $ k_{p,i} = 1580 \left( M {\rm s} \right)^{ - 1}, k_{tr,i}^{\rm A} = 2 \times 10^{ - 3} {\rm s}^{ - 1} , k_{tr}^{\rm H} = 3.8 \times 10^{ - 2} \left( {\rm torr} \right)^{ - {1 \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {1 2}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} 2}} {\rm s}^{ - 1}$ for the isospecific ones and $ k_{p,a} = 58 \left( M {\rm s} \right)^{ - 1} ,k_{tr,a}^{\rm A} = 3 \times 10^{ - 3} {\rm s}^{ -1}$ for the nonspecific sites. Catalyst of VCl₃ supported on MgCl₂ has comparable productivity as the VCl₄/MgCl₂ catalyst but catalyst of VCl₂ supported on MgCl₂ exhibit only one-ninth of the productivity. Extensive comparison has been made between the CW–V and the CW–Ti systems which revealed striking similarities between their polymerization behaviors. MgCl₂ exerts profound influence on the stereochemical control of the vanadium ion on its activity for monomer coordination and insertion.     

Multicomponent polymer coating to block photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanoparticles

Chemical grafting of anti-oxidant molecules with an additional hydrophobic polymer coating directly onto TiO(2) particle surfaces, using sonochemistry, is found to eliminate photocatalytic degradation enabling highly effective screening against UV radiation.     

Rhenium(I)‐Catalyzed ortho‐C−H Addition to Bicyclic Alkenes

Hydroarylation of bicyclic alkenes has been developed using a low‐valent Re^I‐catalyzed, directing group‐assisted C?H bond activation strategy. The addition of sodium acetate significantly improves the reaction efficiency; moreover, bicyclic alkenes such as 7‐oxa and aza benzonorbornadienes worked efficiently under this reaction condition. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest that, after the alkene insertion, the rhenacycle preferentially undergoes protonolysis rather than reductive elimination.     

Bis‐benzimidazolium‐palladium system catalyzed Suzuki‐Miyaura coupling reaction of aryl bromides under mild conditions

Bis‐benzimidazolium salts were prepared successfully from commercially available and inexpensive o‐phenylenediamine through a series of simple reactions. The bis‐NHC‐Pd complexes prepared in situ can catalyze Suzuki‐Miyaura cross‐coupling reaction under very mild conditions in aqueous media with excellent yields. The efficiency of this reaction is demonstrated by its compatibility with a range of functional groups. Di‐ortho‐substituted biaryls could be accomplished in 89–99% yields. Moreover, the rigorous exclusion of air or moisture is not required in these transformations.     

Solution 1H NMR characterization of axial interactions of the proximal and distal His in the cyanomet complexes of the isolated chains and the 65 kDa intact tetramer of human hemoglobin A.

Solution 1H NMR has been used to investigate the axial bonding of the proximal His and the hydrogen-bonding of the distal His to the bound ligand in the isolated chains as well as the subunits of intact, tetrameric, cyanomet human hemoglobin A. The complete proximal His, including all ring protons necessary to monitor bonding in each subunit, could be definitively assigned by 1D/2D methods despite the large size (approximately 65 kDa) and severe relaxation (to T(1) approximately 3 ms, line width approximately 1.5 kHz) of two of the protons. The complete distal His E7 ring was assigned in the alpha-chain and alpha-subunit of HbA, and the dipolar shifts and relaxation were analyzed to reveal a disposition intermediate between the positions adopted in HbCO and HbO2 that is optimal for forming a hydrogen bond with bound cyanide. The lability of the alpha-subunit His E7 NepsilonH is found to be similar to that in sperm whale cyanomet myoglobin. The orientation of the distal His E7 in the beta-subunit is found to be consistent with that seen in either HbCO or HbO2. While the His E7 labile NepsilonH proton signal could not be detected in either the beta-chain or subunit, it is concluded that this more likely reflects increased lability over that of the alpha-subunit, and not the absence of a hydrogen bond to the bound ligand. Analysis of the heme mean methyl hyperfine shift, which has been shown to be very sensitive to the presence of distal hydrogen bonds to bound cyanide (Nguyen, B. D.; Xia, Z.; Cutruzzolá, F.; Travaglini Allocatelli, C.; Brancaccio, A.; Brunori, M.; La Mar, G. N. J. Biol. Chem. 2000, 275, 742-751), directly supports the presence of a distal His E7 hydrogen bond to cyanide in the beta-chain and beta-subunit which is weaker than the same hydrogen bond in the alpha-subunit. The potential for the proximal His hyperfine shifts in serving as indicators of axial strain in the allosteric transition of HbA is discussed.     

Effects of phenolic compounds on gelation behavior of gelatin gels

The effects of phenolic additives on the gelation behavior of gelatin gels were investigated using thermomechanical analysis (TMA) for study of gel‐melting temperature, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) for study of gel‐storage modulus and gel‐aging stability, viscometry for study of gelation time, and texture analyzer for study of gel strength and gel melting. Thermodynamically, the addition of 1,3‐benzenediol, 1,4‐benzenediol or 1,3,5‐benzenetriol favored the gelation process of gelatin solutions (increases in T_m and aging stability) due to the introduction of extra physical crosslinks among gelatin chains through hydrogen bonding, while the addition of 1,2‐benzenediol had a negative effect (decreases in T_m and aging stability) possibly due to intra‐hydrogen bonding of the additive molecule itself. All the phenolic compounds had little effect on gel moduli. Kinetically, the introduction of 1,2‐benzenediol or 1,4‐benzenediol slowed the gelation process, while introduction of catechin, a polyphenol, accelerated the first stage of the gelation process. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 224–231, 2001     

Synthesis of an amphiphilic styrenic block copolymer: Polycondensation of dichloromethane and low molecular weight poly(ethylene glycol) in the presence of hydroxypropylated polystyrene‐block‐polybutadiene

An amphiphilic styrenic block copolymer, polystyrene‐block‐polybutadiene‐block‐poly[oxymethylene‐alt‐oligo(oxyethylene)] (PS‐b‐PB‐b‐POME), was synthesized through a polycondensation reaction of low molecular weight poly(ethylene glycol) and dichloromethane in the presence of hydroxypropylated polystyrene‐block‐polybutadiene (PS‐b‐PB‐OH) used as a monofunctional chain‐capping reagent. PS‐b‐PB‐OH was in turn prepared via an anionic synthesis of PS‐b‐PB followed by oxetane capping and methanol quenching. Although PS‐b‐PB‐OH has insignificant hydrophilicity, PS‐b‐PB‐b‐POME containing both the hydrophobic PS‐b‐PB segment and the hydrophilic POME segment had an improved emulsifying capability and effectively decreased the interfacial tension between water and toluene. The hydrophile–lipophile balance value of this amphiphilic PS‐b‐PB‐b‐POME copolymer, consisting of 86 wt % of the POME segment and 14 wt % of the PS‐b‐PB segment, was 17.2. The molecular weight of the copolymer molecule was determined by gel permeation chromatography–multi‐angle laser light scattering, and the microstructure was analyzed using ¹H NMR. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 2625–2632, 2001     

A two-step extraction method for differentiating chromium species in water

The hexavalent Cr species Cr(VI) in natural waters can be quantitatively extracted by diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC) in the pH range 4.0–4.5 into chloroform, followed by back-extraction into a Hg(II) solution for graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). The trivalent Cr(III) species can be oxidized to Cr(VI) by KMnO₄ and then extracted by the DDTC-Hg(II) procedure. The proposed two-step extraction method combined with GFAAS is suitable for Cr speciation studies in natural water systems.     

Application of BGO detector to monitor in situ16N concentration in a reactor pool

A high efficiency BGO detecting system coupled to a coolant pumping device was used to monitor on-line the 6.13 MeV high energy gamma-ray, which is emitted from the 7.1 s half-life of¹⁶N activated by¹⁶O(n, p) reaction in a nuclear reactor. The system has been demonstrated effectively to monitor the real-time reactor power level as well as the space-time neutron flux distribution in reactor coolant.