Structure-property relationships and moisture sensitivity of PDMS/PTMO mixed soft segment urethane elastomers

The structure-property relationships of polyurethane elastomers based on 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and 4,4′-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate (HMDI) with PTMO, PDMS, and mixed PTMO/PDMS soft segments were investigated using DSC, dynamic mechanical spectroscopy, tensile testing, and SAXS. Changes in water absorption and moisture sensitivity with compositional changes were investigated through water absorption and physical property measurements. Differences in tensile properties and moisture sensitivity with varying hard and soft segment composition are interpreted in terms of the phase mixing characteristics of the various polymers studied.     

The uniform saturation property for a singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion equation

Although adaptive finite element methods for solving elliptic problems often work well in practice, they are usually not proven to converge. For Poisson like problems, an exception is given by the method of Dörfler ([8]), that was later improved by Morin, Nochetto and Siebert ([11]). In this paper we extend these methods by constructing an adaptive finite element method for a singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion equation that, in energy norm, converges uniformly in the size of the reaction term. Moreover, in this algorithm the arising Galerkin systems are solved only inexactly, so that, generally, the number of arithmetic operations is equivalent to the number of triangles in the final partition.This work was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and by the EU-IHP project “Breaking Complexity.”     

Isolation of CeLu2N@Ih‐C80 through a Non‐Chromatographic,Two‐Step Chemical Process and Crystallographic Characterization of the Pyramidalized CeLu2N within the Icosahedral Cage

By combining two chemical methods of purification, 4 mg of purified CeLu₂N@C₈₀ was readily isolated from 500 mg of carbon soot extract without the use of recycling HPLC, a method which has previously been necessary to obtain pure samples of endohedral fullerenes. In stage 1, CeLu₂N@C₈₀ was selectively precipitated by virtue of its low first oxidation potential (+0.01 V) and the judicious choice of MgCl₂ as the Lewis acid precipitant. For stage 2, we used a stir and filter approach (SAFA), which employed the electron‐rich NH₂ groups immobilized on silica gel to selectively bind residual endohedrals and higher cage fullerenes that were contaminants from stage 1. Crystallographic analysis of CeLu₂N@C₈₀ in the co‐crystal CeLu₂N@I_h‐C₈₀ ? Ni(octaethylporphyrin) ? 2(toluene) reveals that the I_h‐C₈₀ cage is present with a pyramidalized CeLu₂N unit inside.     

Screening of cannabinoids in industrial‐grade hemp using two‐dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with acidic potassium permanganate chemiluminescence detection

Widely known for its recreational use, the cannabis plant also has the potential to act as an antibacterial agent in the medicinal field. The analysis of cannabis plants/products in both pharmacological and forensic studies often requires the separation of compounds of interest and/or accurate identification of the whole cannabinoid profile. In order to provide a complete separation and detection of cannabinoids, a new two‐dimensional liquid chromatography method has been developed using acidic potassium permanganate chemiluminescence detection, which has been shown to be selective for cannabinoids. This was carried out using a Luna 100 Å CN column and a Poroshell 120 EC‐C₁₈ column in the first and second dimensions, respectively. The method has utilized a large amount of the available separation space with a spreading angle of 48.4° and a correlation of 0.66 allowing the determination of more than 120 constituents and mass spectral identification of ten cannabinoids in a single analytical run. The method has the potential to improve research involved in the characterization of sensitive, complex matrices.     

Photooxidizing Chromium Catalysts for Promoting Radical Cation Cycloadditions

The photooxidizing capabilities of selected Cr^III complexes for promoting radical cation cycloadditions are described. These complexes have sufficiently long‐lived excited states to oxidize electron‐rich alkenes, thereby initiating [4+2] processes. These metal species augment the spectrum of catalysts explored in photoredox systems, as they feature unique properties that can result in differential reactivity from the more commonly employed ruthenium or iridium catalysts.     

Organocatalytic asymmetric cross-aldol reaction of 2-chloroethoxy acetaldehyde: diversity-oriented synthesis of chiral substituted 1,4-dioxanes and morpholines

Herein we report a facile organocatalytic asymmetric direct cross-aldol reaction of 2-chloroethoxy acetaldehyde with aromatic aldehydes using (S)-(?)-α,α-diphenyl-2-pyrrolidinemethanol as an organocatalyst to afford anti-2-(2-chloroethoxy)-1-arylpropane-1,3-diols with excellent enantioselectivities (95–98%) and moderate diastereoselectivities (3.5–7:1). The 1,3-diols, obtained after the aldehyde reduction, represent highly functional intermediates that allow for further diversification into both chiral 1,4-dioxanes and morpholines, compounds that frequently display interesting biological activities.