Atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate by copper(I)‐pyridine‐2‐carboximidate catalysts

Pyridine‐2‐carboximidates [methyl ( 1a ), ethyl ( 1b ), isopropyl ( 1c ), cyclopentyl ( 1d ), cyclohexyl ( 1e ), n‐octyl ( 1f ), and benzyl ( 1g )] were prepared from the reaction of 2‐cyanopyridine with the corresponding alcohols. Cyclopentyl‐substituted 1d was found to be a highly effective ligand for copper‐catalyzed atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA). For example, the observed rate constant for a CuBr/ 1d catalytic system was found to be nearly twice as high as the cyclohexyl‐substituted CuBr/ 1e catalytic system [k_obs = (1.19 vs 0.56) × 10^?4 s^?1). The effects of the solvents, temperature, catalyst/initiator, and solvent/monomer ratio on the ATRP of MMA were studied systematically for the CuBr/ 1d catalytic system. The optimum condition for the ATRP of MMA was found to be a 1:2:1:400 [CuBr]_o/[ 1d ]_o/[ethyl 2‐bromoisobutyrate]_o/[MMA]_o ratio at 60 °C in veratrole solution, which yielded well‐defined poly(MMA) with a narrow molecular weight distribution of 1.14. The catalytically active copper complex 2d was isolated from the reaction of CuBr with 1d . Narrow molecular weight distributions as low as 1.06 were achieved for the CuBr/ 1d catalytic system by employing 10% of the deactivator CuBr₂. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 2747–2755, 2004     

Behavior and surface energies of polybenzoxazines formed by polymerization with argon,oxygen, and hydrogen plasmas

Polybenzoxazine (PBZZ) thin films can be fabricated by the plasma‐polymerization technique with, as the energy source, plasmas of argon, oxygen, or hydrogen atoms and ions. When benzoxazine (BZZ) films are polymerized through the use of high‐energy argon atoms, electronegative oxygen atoms, or excited hydrogen atoms, the PBZZ films that form possess different properties and morphologies in their surfaces. High‐energy argon atoms provide a thermodynamic factor to initiate the ring‐opening polymerization of BZZ and result in the polymer surface having a grid‐like structure. The ring‐opening polymerization of the BZZ film that is initiated by cationic species such as oxygen atoms in plasma, is propagated around nodule structures to form the PBZZ. The excited hydrogen atom plasma initiates both polymerization and decomposition reactions simultaneously in the BZZ film and results in the formation of a porous structure on the PBZZ surface. We evaluated the surface energies of the PBZZ films polymerized by the action of these three plasmas by measuring the contact angles of diiodomethane and water droplets. The surface roughness of the films range from 0.5 to 26 nm, depending on the type of carrier gas and the plasma‐polymerization time. By estimating changes in thickness, we found that the PBZZ film synthesized by the oxygen plasma‐polymerization process undergoes the slowest rate of etching in CF₄ plasma. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 4063–4074, 2004     

Fracture toughening of epoxy matrices with blends of resins of different molecular weights and other modifiers

The microstructure and fracture behavior of epoxy mixtures containing two monomers of different molecular weights were studied. The variation of the fracture toughness by the addition of other modifiers was also investigated. Several amounts of high‐molecular‐weight diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) oligomer were added to a nearly pure DGEBA monomer. The mixtures were cured with an aromatic amine, showing phase separation after curing. The curing behavior of the epoxy mixtures was investigated with thermal measurements. A significant enhancement of the fracture toughness was accompanied by slight increases in both the rigidity and strength of the mixtures that corresponded to the content of the high‐molecular‐weight epoxy resin. Dynamic mechanical and atomic force microscopy measurements indicated that the generated two‐phase morphology was a function of the content of the epoxy resin added. The influence of the addition of an oligomer or a thermoplastic on the morphologies and mechanical properties of both epoxy‐containing mixtures was also investigated. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 3920–3933, 2004     

Homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction of uranium(VI) using tri-n-octylphosphine oxide.

A simple and efficient method for the selective separation and preconcentration of uranium(VI) using homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction was developed. Tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) and tri-n-butylphosphate (TBP) were investigated as complexing ligands, and perfluorooctanoate ion (PFOA-) was applied as a phase separator agent under strongly acidic conditions. Under the optimal conditions ([PFOA-] = 1.7 x 10(-3) M, [TOPO] = 5.4 x 10(-4) M, [HNO3] = 0.3 M, [acetone] = 3.2% v/v) 10 microg of uranium in 40 ml aqueous phase could be extracted quantitatively into 8 microl of the sedimented phase. The maximum concentration factor was 5000-fold. However, an effort for the quantitative extraction using TBP was inefficient and the percent recovery was at most 56.7. The influence of the type and concentration of acid solution, optimum amount of the ligand, type and volume of the organic solvent, concentration of PFOA, volume of the aqueous sample and effect of different diverse ions on the extraction and determination of uranium(VI) were investigated. The proposed method was applied to the extraction and determination of uranium(VI) in natural water samples.     

Selective extraction of iron(III) from aqueous nitrate solution in the presence of cobalt(II), copper(II) and nickel(II) ions using bis(delta2-2-imidazolinyl)-5,5'-dioxime.

The feasibility of using bis(delta2-2-imidazolinyl)-5,5'-dioxime (H2L) for the selective extraction of iron(III) from aqueous solutions was investigated by employing an solvent-extraction technique. The extraction of iron(III) from an aqueous nitrate solution in the presence of metal ions, such as cobalt(II), copper(II) and nickel(II), was carried out using H2L in binary and multicomponent mixtures. Iron(III) extraction has been studied as a function of the pH, equilibrium time and extractant concentration. From the extracted complex species in the organic phase, iron(III) was stripped with 2 M HNO3, and later determined using atomic-absorption spectrometry. The extraction was found to significantly depend on the aqueous solution pH. The extraction of iron(III) with H2L increases with the pH value, reaching a maximum in the zone of pH 2.0, remaining constant between 2 and 3.5 and subsequently decreasing. The quantitative extraction of iron(III) with 5 x 10(-30 M H2L in toluene is observed at pH 2.0. H2L was found to react with iron(III) to form ligand complex having a composition of 1:2 (Fe:H2L).     

Spectrophotometric and AAS determination of trace amounts of cobalt after preconcentration by using alpha-benzilmonoxime-microcrystalline naphthalene.

The formed cobalt-a-benzilmonoxime complex was adsorbed onto microcrystalline naphthalene. Then it was determined by zero and first derivative spectrophotometry and by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) after dissolving into chloroform and methylisobutylketone (MIBK), respectively. Under optimum conditions, cobalt in the range of 1.0 - 20.0, 0.4 - 30.0 and 2.5 - 50.0 microg could be determined by spectrophotometry, first derivative spectrophotometry and AAS method, respectively. By the method, a preconcentration factor equal to approximately 30 for cobalt was obtained. The effect of diverse ions on the determination of 5.0 microg cobalt was also studied. The method was successfully applied to some pharmaceuticals and synthetic alloy samples.     

Simultaneous kinetic-spectrophotometric determination of hydrazine and acetylhydrazine in micellar media using the H-point standard addition method.

The H-point standard addition method (HPSAM), based on a spectrophotometric measurement for the simultaneous determination of hydrazine and acetylhydrazine, is described. This method is based on the difference between the rates of their reactions with N,N-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (DAB) in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in acidic media. The results showed that hydrazine and acetylhydrazine could be determined simultaneously in the range of 0.020 - 0.70 and 0.20 - 5.0 mg L(-1), respectively. Under the working conditions, the proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of hydrazine and acetylhydrazine in several synthetic mixtures and plasma and water samples.     

On the Integrability Conditions for Some Structures Related to Evolution Differential Equations

Using the result by D. Gessler, we show that any invariant variational bivector (resp., variational 2-form) on an evolution equation with nondegenerate right-hand side is Hamiltonian (resp., symplectic).     

Finite Groups with Nonmonomial Characters of Prime Degree

It is proved that every finite group for which the degrees of its nonmonomial characters are primes is solvable. The proof uses the classification of the finite simple groups.