Cu(I)-catalyzed cascade reaction of N-tosylhydrazones with 3-butyn-1-ol: A new synthesis of tetrahydrofurans

The Cu(I)-catalyzed cascade coupling/cyclization reaction of N-tosylhydrazones with 3-butyn-1-ol has been explored. This new strategy represents a simple platform for the synthesis of tetrahydrofurans in moderate to good yields.     

Term rank preservers of Boolean matrices

We obtain some characterizations of linear operators that preserve the term rank of Boolean matrices. That is, a linear operator over Boolean matrices preserves the term rank if and only if it preserves the term ranks 1 and k(≠1) if and only if it preserves the term ranks 2 and l(≠2). Other characterizations of term rank preservers are given.     

Synthesis of a benzoxazine with precisely two phenolic OH linkages and the properties of its high‐performance copolymers

A phenolic OH‐containing benzoxazine ( F‐ap ), which cannot be directly synthesized from the condensation of bisphenol F, aminophenol, and formaldehyde by traditional procedures, has been successfully prepared in our alternative synthetic approach. F‐ap was prepared by three steps including (a) condensation of 4‐aminophenol and 5,5'‐methylenebis(2‐hydroxybenzaldehyde) (1) , (b) reduction of the resulting imine linkage by sodium borohydride, and (c) ring closure condensation by formaldehyde. The key starting material, (1) , was prepared from 2‐hydroxybenzaldehyde and s‐trioxane in the presence of sulfuric acid. F‐ap is structurally similar to bis(3,4‐dihydro‐2H‐3‐phenyl‐1,3‐benzoxazinyl)methane ( F‐a, a commercial benzoxazine based on bisphenol F/aniline/formaldehyde) except for two phenolic OHs. The phenolic OHs can provide reaction sites with epoxy and 1,1'‐(methylenedi‐p‐phenylene)bismaleimide (BMI). The structure–property relationships between the thermosets of F‐ap /epoxy, F‐a /epoxy, F‐ap /BMI, and F‐a /BMI were discussed. Experimental data showed that thermosets based on F‐ap /epoxy and F‐ap /BMI provided much better thermal properties than those based on F‐a /epoxy and F‐a /BMI. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 2686–2694     

An experimental investigation of one- and two-degree of freedom VIV of cylinders

In the paper,an experiment investigation was conducted for one-and two-degree of freedom vortex-induced vibration(VIV) of a horizontally-oriented cylinder with diameter of 11 cm and length of 120 cm.In the experiment,the spring constants in the cross-flow and in-line flow directions were regulated to change the natural vibration frequency of the model system.It was found that,in the one-degree of freedom VIV experiment,a "double peak" phenomenon was observed in its amplitude within the range of the reduced velocities tested,moreover,a "2T" wake appeared in the vicinity of the second peak.In the two-degree of freedom VIV experiment,the trajectory of cylinder exhibited a reverse "C" shape,i.e.,a "new moon" shape.Through analysis of these data,it appears that,besides the non-dimensional in-line and cross-flow natural vibration frequency ratios,the absolute value of the natural vibration frequency of cylinder is also one of the important parameters affecting its VIV behavior.     

Aligned and molecularly oriented semihollow ultrafine polymer fiber yarns by a facile method

In this work, aligned and molecularly oriented bone‐like PLLA semihollow fiber yarns were manufactured continuously from an optimized homogeneous polymer‐solvent‐nonsolvent system [PLLA, CH₂Cl₂, and dimethyl formamide (DMF)] by a single capillary electrospinning via self‐bundling technique. Here, it should be emphasized that the self‐bundling electrospinning technique, a very facile electrospinning technique with a grounded needle (which is to induce the self‐bundling of polymer nanofibers at the beginning of electrospinning process), is used for the alignment and molecular orientation of the polymer fiber, and the take‐up speed of the rotating drum for the electrospun fiber yarn collection is very low (0.5 m/s). PLLA can be dissolved in DMF and CH₂Cl₂ mixed solvent with different ratios. By varying the ratios of mixed solvent system, PLLA electrospun semihollow fiber with the porous inner structure and compact shell wall could be formed, the thickness of the shell and the size of inner pores could be adjusted. The results of polarized FTIR and wide angle X‐ray diffraction investigations verified that as‐prepared PLLA semihollow fiber yarns were well‐aligned and molecularly oriented. Both the formation mechanism of semihollow fibers with core‐shell structure and the orientation mechanism of polymer chains within the polymer fibers were all discussed. The as‐prepared self‐bundling electrospun PLLA fiber yarns possessed enhanced mechanical performance compared with the corresponding conventional electrospun PLLA fibrous nonwoven membranes. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 1118–1125, 2010     

Preparation and characterization of a poly(vinylbenzyl sulfonic acid)‐grafted FEP membrane

In this study, a novel polymer electrolyte membrane, poly(vinylbenzyl sulfonic acid)‐grafted poly(tetrafluoroethylene‐co‐hexafluoropropylene) (FEP‐g‐PVBSA), has been successfully prepared by simultaneous irradiation grafting of vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC) monomer onto a FEP film and taking subsequent chemical modification steps to modify the benzyl chloride moiety to the benzyl sulfonic acid moiety. The chemical reactions for the sulfonation were carried out via the formation of thiouronium salt with thiourea, base‐catalyzed hydrolysis for the formation of thiol, and oxidation with hydrogen peroxide. Each chemical conversion process was confirmed by FTIR, elemental analysis, and SEM‐EDX. A chemical stability study performed with Fenton's reagent (3% H₂O₂ solution containing 4 ppm of Fe²⁺) at 70 °C revealed that FEP‐g‐PVBSA has a higher chemical stability than the poly(styrene sulfonic acid)‐grafted membranes (FEP‐g‐PSSA). © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 563–569, 2010     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(1,4‐bis((E)‐2‐(3‐dodecylthiophen‐2‐yl)vinyl)benzene) derivatives

New amorphous semiconducting copolymers, poly(9,9‐dialkylfluorene)‐alt‐(3‐dodecylthienyl‐divinylbenzene‐3‐dodecylthienyl) derivatives (PEFTVB and POFTVB), were designed, synthesized, and characterized. The structure of copolymers was confirmed by H NMR, IR, and elemental analysis. The copolymers showed very good solubility in organic solvents and high thermal stability with high T_g of 178–185 °C. The weight average molecular weight was found to be 107,900 with polydispersity of 3.14 for PEFTVB and 76,700 with that of 3.31 for POFTVB. UV–vis absorption studies showed the maximum absorption at 428 nm (in solution) and 435 nm (in film) for PEFTVB and at 430 nm (in solution) and 436 nm (in film) for POFTVB. Photoluminescence studies showed the emission at 498 nm (in solution) and 557 nm (in film) for PEFTVB and at 498 nm (in solution) and 536 nm (in film) for POFTVB. The solution‐processed thin‐film transistors showed the carrier mobility of 2 × 10^?4 cm² V^?1 s^?1 for PEFTVB‐based devices and 2 × 10^?5 cm² V^?1 s^?1 for POFTVB‐based devices. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 3942–3949, 2010