Ethylene-Coordinative Chain-Transfer Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly (CCTPISA)

Block copolymers based on ethylene (E) and butadiene (B) were prepared using the ansa-bis(fluorenyl) complex {Me₂Si(C₁₃H₈)₂Nd(BH₄)₂Li(THF)}₂ in combination with (n-Bu)(n-Oct)Mg (BOMAG) as a chain-transfer agent. The diblock copolymers incorporating a soft poly(ethylene-co-butadiene) segment, called ethylene butadiene rubber (EBR), and a hard polyethylene (PE) one were obtained by simply adjusting the different feeds of monomers during the polymerization. The soluble EBR block was formed first by feeding the catalytic system dissolved in toluene at 70 °C with a mixture of ethylene and butadiene (E/B molar ratio 80 : 20). Then the feeding was stopped leading to the consumption of a large part of the residual monomers. The reactor was finally fed with ethylene to form the PE block. By varying the molar mass of the latter, it is shown that the resulting soft-b-hard block copolymers can self-assemble simultaneously to the growth of the PE block in agreement with a polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) mechanism. The self-assembly is discussed considering the reaction conditions, the crystallization of the PE block, and the polymerization mechanism involved.     

H2-broadening,shifting and mixing coefficients of the doublets in the ν2 and ν4 bands of PH3 at room temperature

The broadening, shifting and mixing coefficients of the doublet spectral lines in the ν₂ and ν₄ bands of PH₃ perturbed by H₂ have been determined at room temperature. Indeed, the collisional spectroscopic parameters: intensities, line widths, line shifts and line mixing parameters, are all grouped together in the collisional relaxation matrix. To analyse the collisional process and physical effects on spectra of phosphine (PH₃), we have used the measurements carried out using a tunable diode-laser spectrometer in the ν₂ and ν₄ bands of PH₃ perturbed by hydrogen (H₂) at room temperature. The recorded spectra are fitted by the Voigt profile and the speed-dependent uncorrelated hard collision model of Rautian and Sobelman. These profiles are developed in the studies of isolated lines and are modified to account for the line mixing effects in the overlapping lines. The line widths, line shifts and line mixing parameters are given for six A₁ and A₂ doublet lines with quantum numbers K = 3n,?(n = 1,?2, …) and overlapped by collisional broadening at pressures of less than 50 mbar.     

Non-crossing matchings of points with geometric objects

Given an ordered set of points and an ordered set of geometric objects in the plane, we are interested in finding a non-crossing matching between point–object pairs. In this paper, we address the algorithmic problem of determining whether a non-crossing matching exists between a given point–object pair. We show that when the objects we match the points to are finite point sets, the problem is NP-complete in general, and polynomial when the objects are on a line or when their size is at most 2. When the objects are line segments, we show that the problem is NP-complete in general, and polynomial when the segments form a convex polygon or are all on a line. Finally, for objects that are straight lines, we show that the problem of finding a min-max non-crossing matching is NP-complete.     

Coralyne cation, a fluorescent probe for general detection in planar chromatography

A large number of analytes, including non-fluorescent ones, can be sensitively detected by fluorescence scanning densitometry using silica gel HPTLC plates impregnated with a solution of coralyne cation. This is carried out by the variation, increase or decrease, that the corresponding analyte induces on native coralyne emission at a given excitation wavelength. A similar phenomenon was previously described for berberine cation, and Reichardt's dye probes. However, the sensitivity of coralyne in HPTLC detection of non-fluorescent, structurally different analytes (e.g., long-chain alkanes, alcohols, alkylbromides, neutral lipids) is superior to that of the above-mentioned probes. In this work, the analytical viability of this phenomenon for HPTLC detection using coralyne as a probe is explored, and fluorescent responses of a number of analytes on the coralyne system are rationalized in the light of a previously proposed model. This establishes that the resulting intensity for a probe in the presence of a given compound can be explained as a balance between radiative (contribution of non-specific interactions) and non-radiative processes (specific interactions), the latter producing fluorescence quenching. Experimental results and proposed model suggest that this phenomenon may be general for practically all kinds of analytes.     

Photo- and thermo-oxidation of poly(p-phenylene-vinylene) and phenylene-vinylene oligomer

This paper reports a study of the photo- and thermo-degradation of poly(p-phenylene-vinylene)-type (PPVs) materials, including a five-ring n-octyloxy substituted phenylene-vinylene oligomer (Ooct-OPV5) and poly(p-phenylene-vinylene) (PPV). The modifications in the chemical structure of the thin films submitted to UV-visible light irradiation and thermal oxidation were analysed with infrared spectroscopy, and the oxidation products were identified by derivatisation reactions. Results showed that the photochemical and thermal behaviour of the Ooct-OPV5 oligomer was similar to that of MDMO-PPV (poly[2-methoxy-5-(3′,7′-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene), which is a polymer used in organic solar cells. Additionally, the identification of the products resulting from the oxidation of the vinylene bonds was simpler in Ooct-OPV5 and PPV compared to MDMO-PPV In contrast, the oxidation mechanisms of PPV, which has no ether substituent, and MDMO-PPV are not identical; the disappearance of the double bonds in PPV does not involve the formation of aromatic ketones. It was also shown that the absence of ether substituents does not decrease the rate of photo-oxidation of PPV compared to MDMO-PPV. Finally, as the same mechanisms proposed for Ooct-OPV5 and PPV occur under both photo- and thermo-oxidative conditions of ageing, this confirms that singlet oxygen does not play a decisive role in the photo-oxidation of PPVs.     

Witness (Delaunay) graphs

Proximity graphs are used in several areas in which a neighborliness relationship for input data sets is a useful tool in their analysis, and have also received substantial attention from the graph drawing community, as they are a natural way of implicitly representing graphs. However, as a tool for graph representation, proximity graphs have some limitations that may be overcome with suitable generalizations.We introduce a generalization, witness graphs, that encompasses both the goal of more power and flexibility for graph drawing issues and a wider spectrum for neighborhood analysis. We study in detail two concrete examples, both related to Delaunay graphs, and consider as well some problems on stabbing geometric objects and point set discrimination, that can be naturally described in terms of witness graphs.     

Polymerization and Copolymerization of Allyl Allyl Sulfonate

Allyl allyl sulfonate (AAS) has been polymerized under the influence of azobisisobutyronitrile to low molecular weight polymers containing cyclic structures. This is in contrast to the behavior of allyl ethane sulfonate (AES) and of propyl allyl sulfonate (PAS) which did not polymerize under the same conditions. AAS has been copolymerized with styrene, methyl acrylate, and vinyl acetate. The following copolymerization reactivity factors have been found:

r_AAS 0.01 ± 0.01 r_styrene 13 ± 1

r_AAS 0-37 ± 0.09 r_{methyl acrylate} 5.3 ± 0-7

r_AAS 1.54 ± 0.08 r_{vinyl acetate} 0.5 ± 0.15

The results indicate that AAS has a higher reactivity than AES or PAS.     

Copolymerization of Maleic Anhydride with Benzofuran,Indole, and Benzothiophene

Abstract

Maieic anhydride (MAn) forms alternating copolymers with benzofuran (BF), indole, and benzothiophene (BT) under the influence of azobisisoburyronitrile. In all three cases the yield and molecular weight were highest when equimolar amounts of both monomers were used. The association constants of charge-transfer complex formation of MAn with the three comonomers have been measured at various temperatures by NMR. The following values were obtained (at 20°C):

MAn-BF ca. 0.01 liter/mole (in cyclohexanone)

MAn-indole 0.28 liter/mole (in chloroform)

MAn-BT 0.30 liter/mole (in chloroform)

The results indicate that the reactivity of the comonomers to form copolymers with MAn is governed by the resonance stabilization of the monomer and to a lesser extent by complex formation. The rate of copolymerization is much higher for the MAn-BF system than for the two other systems. In the former case it is not necessary to invoke charge-complex formation to explain the copolymerization.     

Application of a recent solution of the Navier–Stokes equation to flow on the surface of a globe

We reduce an exact solution of the 3D Navier–Stokes equation (Muriel, 2011) [1] to two dimensions to model flow on the surface of a globe, producing the following results: (a) an analytic discovery of the time evolution of two streams, one each above and below the equator, (b) analytic speed-up of modeling bypassing iterative numerical simulation.     

Core–Shell Nanoreactors for Efficient Aqueous Biphasic Catalysis

Water‐borne phosphine‐functionalized core‐cross‐linked micelles ( CCM ) consisting of a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic shell were obtained as stable latexes by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) in water in a one‐pot, three‐step process. Initial homogeneous aqueous‐phase copolymerization of methacrylic acid (MAA) and poly(ethylene oxide) methyl ether methacrylate (PEOMA) is followed by copolymerization of styrene (S) and 4‐diphenylphosphinostyrene (DPPS), yielding P(MAA‐co‐PEOMA)‐b‐P(S‐co‐DPPS) amphiphilic block copolymer micelles ( M ) by polymerization‐induced self‐assembly (PISA), and final micellar cross‐linking with a mixture of S and diethylene glycol dimethacrylate. The CCM were characterized by dynamic light scattering and NMR spectroscopy to evaluate size, dispersity, stability, and the swelling ability of various organic substrates. Coordination of [Rh(acac)(CO)₂] (acac=acetylacetonate) to the core‐confined phosphine groups was rapid and quantitative. The CCM and M latexes were then used, in combination with [Rh(acac)(CO)₂], to catalyze the aqueous biphasic hydroformylation of 1‐octene, in which they showed high activity, recyclability, protection of the activated Rh center by the polymer scaffold, and low Rh leaching. The CCM latex gave slightly lower catalytic activity but significantly less Rh leaching than the M latex. A control experiment conducted in the presence of the sulfoxantphos ligand pointed to the action of the CCM as catalytic nanoreactors with substrate and product transport into and out of the polymer core, rather than as a surfactant in interfacial catalysis.