Effects of structure on properties of some new aromatic-aliphatic polybenzimidazoles

Polybenzimidazoles were prepared in poly(phosphoric acid) from isophthalic, m- and p-phenylene diacetic, succinic, adipic, suberic, and sebacic acids and 3,3′-diaminobenzidine, 3,3′,4,4′-tetraaminodiphenyl ether and 3,3′,4,4′-tetraaminodiphenylmethane. The thermal, mechanical, and bonding properties were studied. A 3:1 copolymer of isophthalic and m-phenylenediacetic acid with 3,3′-diaminobenzidine showed the best results as far as isothermal oxidation resistance and thermal and processing characteristics.     

Achiral Calcium‐Oxalate Crystals with Chiral Morphology from the Leaves of Some Solanacea Plants

The leaves of some plants, particularly among the Solanacea, contain crystals of calcium oxalate with a peculiar chiral pseudo‐tetrahedral morphology, even though the calcium oxalate crystal structure is centrosymmetric, hence achiral. We studied the morphology of these crystals extracted from the leaves of three Solanacea plants: the potato, the hot pepper, and a species of wild Solanum. The crystal morphology was the same in all three species. Based on the examination of more than 100 crystals from each plant, we showed that the crystal morphology is chiral with invariant chirality. We suggest that morphological chirality is induced by macromolecules during nucleation from a specific, genetically encoded crystal plane, and is further established during subsequent controlled crystal growth. This is one of few examples where it is possible to deduce a molecular mechanism for biologically induced breaking of morphological symmetry in organisms. A very high level of recognition is required by the macromolecules to allow them to distinguish between symmetry‐related crystal planes. It is also surprising that this finely controlled mechanism of crystal formation, including the chiral morphology, has been conserved during evolution.     

Effect of intramolecular crosslinker properties on the mechanochemical fragmentation of covalently folded polymers

The mechanochemical stability of polymers in solution is enhanced if the chains are covalently folded. Under shear forces, the additional bonds absorb mechanical energy and inhibit unfolding, and as a result, slow down fragmentation. However, not all crosslinkers are equal in terms of their properties (length, strength, etc.). In order to understand the role of these added bonds in the polymers' stability under mechanical stress, a thorough study compares the rate of mechanochemistry on single-chain polymer nanoparticles which have been folded with crosslinkers with different lengths, strengths, positioning, and valencies. The usage of bonds with different mechanical strengths in the crosslinkers was found to be the most powerful way to change the mechanochemical fragmentation rate. In addition, positioning and valency also play significant role in the mechanical stabilization mechanism. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2020 © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2020 , 58, 692–703     

Studies of Protonation of Some Aminopolycarboxylates by Carbon-13 NMR Spectroscopy

¹³C nmr chemical shifts are used to evaluate successive protonations of the aminopolycarboxylate systems diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) and triethylenetetraminehexaacetic acid (TTHA).     

Orbital pair theory of N.M.R. shielding

A simple correction accounting for the effect of truncating the atomic orbital basis on the calculation of N.M.R. shielding is proposed. This correction is obtained from the expression for the magnetic shielding as a sum of orbital pair contributions: a spurious term that vanishes only if a complete basis is used appears in this expression. It is demonstrated both theoretically and numerically (using the example of PH₃) that removing this term from the results obtained with a truncated basis improves significantly the agreement with the experimental values. As a by-product the gauge dependence of the numerical results is much reduced. The additional computing time is negligible.     

Polymerization of Cyclic Imino Ethers. X. Kinetics,Chain Transfer,and Repolymerization

The main conclusions in studies on polymerization catalysts and the nature of chain transfer in the polymerization of cyclic imino ethers were that there is extensive chain transfer in the 2-alkyl oxazolines to produce polymer with a reactive end. Toward the end of polymerization, these chain-transferred molecules repolymerize back on the active center producing a multibranched star polymer. A theory for the data was developed.