Preparation of high‐temperature polyurethane by alloying with reactive polyamide

A series of novel poly(urethane amide) films were prepared by the reaction of a polyurethane (PU) prepolymer and a soluble polyamide (PA) containing aliphatic hydroxyl groups in the backbone. The PU prepolymer was prepared by the reaction of polyester polyol and 2,4‐tolylenediisocyanate and then was end‐capped with phenol. Soluble PA was prepared by the reaction of 1‐(m‐aminophenyl)‐2‐(p‐aminophenyl)ethanol and terephthaloyl chloride. The PU prepolymer and PA were blended, and the clear, transparent solutions were cast on glass substrates; this was followed by thermal treatments at various temperatures to produce reactions between the isocyanate group of the PU prepolymer and the hydroxyl group of PA. The opaque poly(urethane amide) films showed various properties, from those of plastics to those of elastomers, depending on the ratio of the PU and PA components. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed two glass‐transition temperatures (T_g's), a lower T_g due to the PU component and a higher T_g due to the PA component, suggesting that the two polymer components were phase‐separated. The rubbery plateau region of the storage modulus for the elastic films was maintained up to about 250 °C, which is considerably higher than for conventional PUs. Tensile measurements of the elastic films of 90/10 PU/PA showed that the elongation was as high as 347%. This indicated that the alloying of PU with PA containing aliphatic hydroxyl groups in the backbone improved the high‐temperature properties of PU and, therefore, enhanced the use temperature of PU. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 3497–3503, 2002     

Novel immobilized zinc(II) affinity chromatography for phosphopeptides and phosphorylated proteins

Immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) is now a widely accepted technique for the separation of natural or artificial products that is beginning to find industrial applications. Here, we introduce a novel procedure for the separation of phosphopeptides and phosphorylated proteins by immobilized zinc(II) affinity chromatography. The phosphate-binding site of the affinity gel is an alkoxide-bridged dinuclear zinc(II) complex, the 1,3-bis[bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino]propan-2-olato dizinc(II) complex (Phos-tag), which is linked to a highly cross-linked 4% (w/v) agarose. The affinity gel (Phos-tag agarose) was prepared by the quantitative reaction of N-hydroxysuccinimide-activated Sepharose and a Phos-tag derivative having a 2-aminoethylcarbamoyl group in dry CH3CN. Phosphopeptides were retrieved in a quantitative and highly selective manner by a spin column method using Phos-tag agarose at room temperature. Furthermore, in this study, we demonstrate a simple, rapid, and reusable affinity column chromatography for the separation of phosphorylated proteins such as ovalbumin, alpha(s1)-casein, and beta-casein at physiological pH.     

Synthesis of trifluoromethylthiazoles and their application to azo dyes

3-Bromo-1,1,1-trifluoropropan-2-one ( 2 ) reacted with thiourea and N-monosubstituted thioureas to give the corresponding 4-trifluoromethylthiazoles, respectively. In the reactions with N,N'-diphenylthiourea and thioamides, the considerably stable intermediates, 4-hydroxy-4-trifluoromethylthiazoline derivatives 7 and 8 , were isolated. The reaction of ethyl 2-bromo-4,4,4-trifluoro-3-oxobutanoate ( 4 ) with thiourea was carried out under the gentle conditions to give both thiazole-5-carboxylate 10 and 4-hydroxythiazoline 11 . The thiazole 10 was applied to the azo dye synthesis and the absorption maxima of thus obtained azo dyes were discussed.     

New synthetic routes to biscarbonylbipyridinerhenium(I) complexes cis,trans-[Re(X2bpy)(CO)2(PR3)(Y)n+ (X2bpy = 4,4'-X2-2,2'-bipyridine) via photochemical ligand substitution reactions, and their photophysical and electrochemical properties

Photochemical ligand substitution of fac-[Re(X2bpy)(CO)3(PR3)]+ (X2bpy = 4,4'-X2-2,2'-bipyridine; X = Me, H, CF3; R = OEt, Ph) with acetonitrile quantitatively gave a new class of biscarbonyl complexes, cis,trans[Re(X2bpy)(CO)2(PR3)(MeCN)]+, coordinated with four different kinds of ligands. Similarly, other biscarbonylrhenium complexes, cis,trans-[Re(X2bpy)(CO)2(PR3)(Y)]n+ (n = 0, Y = Cl-; n = 1, Y = pyridine, PR'3), were synthesized in good yields via photochemical ligand substitution reactions. The structure of cis,trans-[Re(Me2bpy)(CO)2[P(OEt)3](PPh3)](PF6) was determined by X-ray analysis. Crystal data: C38H42N2O5F6P3Re, monoclinic, P2(1/a), a = 11.592(1) A, b = 30.953(4) A, c = 11.799(2) A, V = 4221.6(1) A3, Z = 4, 7813 reflections, R = 0.066. The biscarbonyl complexes with two phosphorus ligands were strongly emissive from their 3MLCT state with lifetimes of 20-640 ns in fluid solutions at room temperature. Only weak or no emission was observed in the cases Y = Cl-, MeCN, and pyridine. Electrochemical reduction of the biscarbonyl complexes with Y = Cl- and pyridine in MeCN resulted in efficient ligand substitution to give the solvento complexes cis,trans-[Re(X2bpy)(CO)2(PR3)(MeCN)]+.     

Novel triterpenoid saponins from Mimusops elengi

Two novel triterpenoid saponins, mimusopin ( 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-2β, 3β, 6β, 23-tetrahydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid 28-O--L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→3)-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→4)[a-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→ 3)]--L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)--L-arabinopyranoside)(1) and mimusopsin 3-O-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→3)β-D-gluco-pyranosyl]-2β, 3β, 6β, 23-tetrahydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid 28-O--L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→3)-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→4)--L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)--L-arabinopyranoside (2) were isolated from the seeds of Mimusops elengi. Their structures were elucidated by a combination of 2D-NMR (COSY, HOHAHA, HETCOR, HMBC and NOESY), FAB-MS/MS and strategic chemical degradation. In addition, molecular mechanics and dynamics studies showed that the lack of a ¹³C glycosylation shift at the C-4 of the inner rhamnose in 1 could be correlated with distortion in the corresponding torsion angles.     

Improvement of NOX removal efficiency using short-widthpulsed power

Pulsed power has been used to remove nitric oxide (NO) in a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor simulating the flue gases from a power station stack. The effect of the pulsewidth at a fixed applied voltage on NO removal concentration was studied. The dependence of the energy efficiency of the removal of NO at a fixed applied voltage on the pulsewidth, on the removal ratio of NO and on the discharge current was investigated. This removal energy efficiency increases with decreasing pulsewidth and decreasing removal ratio of NO     

Synthesis of one-dimensional microporous todorokite and its catalytic activity in CO oxidation

Synthesis of an octahedral molecular sieve composed of Mn, Mg and O, known as todorokite, was studied in detail. The synthesis procedure is composed of three steps; layered birnessite synthesis, ion-exchange to buserite and final hydrothermal treatment of buserite. To obtain todorokites of different morphological properties, the aging time in the birnessite synthesis was varied. The effects of the aging time on properties of todorokites were studied by XRD, FE-SEM, TG-DTA, N₂ adsorption-desorption, FT-IR and CO-TPD. In addition, catalytic activities of various todorokites for CO oxidation were investigated and the correlation between properties and activities was discussed.     

Revised spin-parity assignment and a new interpretation of the high-spin isomer in 151Er

The high-spin isomer in ¹⁵¹Er ( E _x = 10.3 MeV, T _1/2 = 420 ns) has been studied by the ¹¹⁶Sn ( ⁴⁰Ar , 5n) ¹⁵¹Er reaction at 197MeV. From the $ \gamma \gamma$ coincidence relations, a new transition with an energy of 1514keV was found. This finding requires the revision of the spin-parity assignment from previous 67/2^- to 61/2⁺ or 65/2^- . The 61/2⁺ assignment is the one which was predicted by the deformed independent particle model as an isomer with a large oblate deformation ( $ \beta$ = - 0.17) of the $\ensuremath[\nu(f_{7/2}h_{9/2} i_{13/2}) \pi(h^4_{11/2})]_{61/2^+}$ configuration. The isomerism may be attributed to the sudden shape change of the isomer from the nearly spherical shape of the lower-spin yrast states to the oblate shape.     

Effects of fly ash on NOx removal by pulsed streamers

NO_x removal methods using plasma chemical reactions in nonthermal plasmas have been widely studied. In this paper, the effects of the addition of fly ash on NO_x removal using short-pulsed discharge plasmas are described. Fly ash which had been collected from a coal-burning thermal electrical power plant was used. Experiments were performed using four different mixtures of gases which included NO. These were (N₂+NO), (N₂+NO+O₂), (N₂+NO+H₂O), and (N₂+NO+O₂+H ₂O). These gas mixtures were used either with or without the addition of fly ash. The initial concentration of NO was fixed at 200 ppm (NO parts per million of the gas mixture), The study of the NO_x (NO+NO₂) removal was performed with the fly ash, as it is relevant to real situations in coal power plants. The results show that the presence of fly ash decreased the NO_x removal rate slightly in the case of dry gas mixtures while it increased the NO_x removal rate substantially in the case of wet gas mixtures. These results suggest that the presence of fly ash in the flue gases, which also contain a few percentages of moisture, would be advantageous to the treatment of flue gases emitted from thermal power plants for the removal of nitrogen oxides