Polymer/clay nanocomposites through multiple hydrogen‐bonding interactions

An 2‐ureido‐4[1H]pyrimidinone (UPy) motif with self‐association capability (through quadruple hydrogen bonds) was successfully anchored onto montmorillonite clay layers. Polymer/clay nanocomposites were prepared by specific hydrogen bonding interactions between surface functionalized silica nanoclays and UPy‐bonded supramolecular poly(ethylene glycol) or poly(?‐caprolactone). The mixed morphologies including intercalated layers with a non‐uniform separation and exfoliated single layers isolated from any stack were determined by combined X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopic measurements. Thermal analyses showed that all nanocomposites had higher decomposition temperatures and thermal stabilities compared with neat polymer. The differential scanning calorimetric data implied that the crystallinity of polymers did not show essential changes upon introduction of organomodified UPy clays. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 650–658     

Synthesis of Dihydropyrans and Dihydrofurans via Radical Cyclization of Unsaturated Alcohols and 1,3‐Dicarbonyl Compounds

The oxidative cyclization reactions of 1,3‐dicarbonyl compounds 1a – 1c and α,β‐unsaturated alcohols 2a – 2f with Mn(OAc)₃ were performed, leading to dihydrofurans. Treatment of 1a and 1b with 2‐methylbut‐3‐en‐2‐ol ( 2a ) gave dihydrofurans 3aa and 3ba , and dihydropyrans 4aa and 4ba , as unexpected products. While the reaction of 2‐methylbut‐3‐yn‐2‐ol ( 2b ) with acetylacetone ( 1b ) yielded a bifuran, ethyl acetoacetate ( 1a ) led to a mixture of furan, bifuran, and salicylate derivatives. Besides, surprisingly, styryl‐substituted dihydrofurans were obtained from the reactions of 1,3‐dicarbonyl compounds and (3E)‐2,4‐diphenylbut‐3‐en‐2‐ol. The reaction mechanisms were proposed for the formation of the different products, considering intermediates in these reaction mixtures.     

Photoinduced Controlled Radical Polymerization

Well‐controlled radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate can be achieved by in situ photochemical generation of copper (I) complex from air‐stable copper (II) species without using any reducing agent at room temperature. The living character of this polymerization was confirmed by both the linear tendency of molecular weight evolution with conversion and a chain extension experiment.

     

1,8‐Bis[(dimethoxy)phosphino]naphthalene: A New Bis‐phosphonite Ligand with a Rigid C3‐Backbone and Unexpected Reaction Chemistry

1,8‐Bis[(diethylamino)phosphino]naphthalene ( 1 ) reacted with dry methanol in dichloromethane to form the new bis‐phosphonite ligand 1,8‐bis[(dimethoxy)phosphino]naphthalene (dmeopn, 2 ). By oxidation of 2 with H₂O₂ · (H₂N)₂C(:O) the corresponding bis‐phosphonate, 1,8‐bis[(dimethoxy)phosphoryl]naphthalene ( 3 ), was obtained quantitatively. Reaction of 3 with phosphorus trichloride unexpectedly furnished a 2.4 : 1 mixture of the bis‐phosphonate anhydrides rac‐ and meso‐1,3‐dimethoxy‐1,3‐dioxo‐2,3‐dihydro‐1,3‐diphospha‐2‐oxaphenalene (rac‐ 4 and meso‐ 4 ) from which rac‐ 4 could be fractionally crystallised. The bis‐phosphonite 2 behaved as a normal bidentate chelate ligand towards Mo⁰ and Pd^II, and furnished the complexes [(dmeopn)Mo(CO)₄] ( 5 ) and [(dmeopn)PdCl₂] ( 6 ) when treated with [(nor)Mo(CO)₄] or [(cod)PdCl₂] (nor = norbornadiene, cod = cycloocta‐1,8‐diene). Attempts to prepare 1,8‐diphosphinonaphthalene ( 7 ) by reducing 2 or 3 with LiAlH₄ or LiAlH₄/TMSCl (1 : 1) (TMSCl = trimethyl chlorosilane) in THF led to inseparable mixtures of phosphorus‐containing products. Compounds 2 – 6 were characterised by ¹H‐, ¹³C‐, and ³¹P‐NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. X‐ray crystal structure analyses were carried out for the bis‐phosphonate anhydride rac‐ 4 and the palladium(II) complex 6 . The geometry of compound rac‐ 4 , in which the phosphorus atoms are connected by an oxygen atom, reveals a relief of strain from the bis‐phosphine 1 , whereas the 1,8‐P,P′‐naphthalenediyl group in 6 is surprisingly distorted; the P atoms are displaced from the naphthalene best plane by –46.7 and 54.5 pm.     

Poly(propylene imine) dendrimers as hydrogen donor in Type II photoinitiated free radical polymerization

Three generations of poly(propylene imine) dendrimers, namely (PPI-16, PPI-32 and PPI-64; 16, 32 and 64 for generations 3, 4 and 5, respectively) were used as hydrogen donors in photoinitiated free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate by using one of the following photosensitizers; benzophenone and thioxanthone. The effect of generation number of the dendrimer on photoinitiation efficiency and molecular weight of the resulting polymers was investigated. Glass transition temperatures and particle size measurements of the resulting polymers indicated the presence of nearly stretched polymer chains around the dendrimers. The location of hydrogen donating sites was evaluated by photolysis studies in the absence of monomer by using a stable radical namely, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl free radical (TEMPO) and showed that hydrogen abstraction occurs from the inner tertiary amino groups. The TEMPO attached dendrimers were further used in the nitroxide mediated radical polymerization (NMP) of styrene to yield star polymers.     

The coating performance of adipic acid modified and methacrylated bisphenol- A based epoxy oligomers

In the present work adipic acid modified and methacrylated bisphenol A based epoxy resins were prepared. The structures of oligomers were characterized by FT-IR. UV curable clear coatings were applied on aluminum substrates. The physical and mechanical properties of UV-cured coatings such as gel content, solvent resistance, hardness, gloss, flexibility and tensile tests were examined. In addition, the thermal behavior of coatings was also evaluated. It is observed that the tensile properties and thermal stabilities of modified epoxy methacrylate coatings mainly depend on the adipic acid content. The best results were obtained with 5 wt% adipic acid modification. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Poly(epsilon-caprolactone)/clay nanocomposites via “click” chemistry

Poly(epsilon-caprolactone)/clay nanocomposites were prepared by copper(I) catalyzed azide/alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) “click” reaction. In this method, ring-opening polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone using propargyl alcohol as the initiator has been performed to produce alkyne-functionalized PCL and the obtained polymers were subsequently attached to azide-modified clay layers by a CuAAC “click” reaction. The exfoliated polymer/clay nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and transmission electron microscopy.     

Charge retention in quantized energy levels of nanocrystals

Understanding charging mechanisms and charge retention dynamics of nanocrystal (NC) memory devices is important in optimization of device design. Capacitance spectroscopy on PECVD grown germanium NCs embedded in a silicon oxide matrix was performed. Dynamic measurements of discharge dynamics are carried out. Charge decay is modelled by assuming storage of carriers in the ground states of NCs and that the decay is dominated by direct tunnelling. Discharge rates are calculated using the theoretical model for different NC sizes and densities and are compared with experimental data. Experimental results agree well with the proposed model and suggest that charge is indeed stored in the quantized energy levels of the NCs.