Effects of temperature on styrene–methacrylonitrile copolymerization

The free-radical copolymerization of styrene and methacrylonitrile was studied in toluene solution at 60, 90, and 120°C. Copolymer composition was estimated from gas-chromatographic measurement of unreacted monomer concentrations. Reactions were carried to about 20% conversion to minimize analytical errors. Reactivity ratios were calculated by using an integrated form of the Mayo-Lewis simple copolymerization equation. Reactivity ratios were not sensitive to reaction temperature. The values at 90°C are r₁ = 0.41 (methacrylonitrile) and r₂ = 0.37 (styrene). The r₁ values are higher than those reported by other workers, presumably because of advantages in the present analytical technique and calculation method. The negligible temperature dependence of reactivity ratios is in accord with theory. If monomer pairs exhibit pronounced dependence of reactivity ratios on polymerization temperature, this may indicate a change in mode of placement of units in the polymer chain.     

Dimethylzinc-mediated addition of alkenylzirconocenes to alpha-keto and alpha-imino esters

[reaction: see text] Hydrozirconation of alkynes followed by in situ transmetalation to dimethylzinc and 1,2-addition to activated ketones and N-diphenylphosphinoylimines leads to tertiary allylic alcohols and amines in high overall yield. With 8-phenylmenthol as the chiral auxiliary, si-face attack proceeds in good to excellent diastereoselectivities.     

Spectral-luminescent analysis of sugar cane juice

A spectral-luminescent analysis has been made of the low-, medium-, and high-molecular mass fractions of sugar cane juice. The presence of pigments was detected in all the fractions. The medium-molecular-mass fraction was distinguished by the most considerable and most diverse composition of the pigments, a substantial contribution to which was made by the products of the alkaline decomposition of sugars. The amounts of pigments in all the fractions of the juice depended on the age of the plant. A pronounced dependence on the age of the plant was characteristic for the medium-molecular-mass fraction.B. I. Stepanov Institute of Physics, Belorussian Academy of Sciences, Minsk. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 456–459, May–June, 1993.     

Influence of electronegative substituents on the electronic spectra of the porphyrins in the form of dications

The positions of the electronic absorption bands and also the intensities of the Soret bands of the porphyrins with ethoxycarbonyl substituents in the form of dications have been calculated by the LCAO MO method in Huckel's approximation. Comparison with the experimental results shows good agreement.     

Determination of uranium after its selective extraction as phenylacetate

The method described is based on the extraction of uranium with a chloroform solution of phenylacetic acid from slightly acidic solution containing nitrilotriacetic acid, which masks all interfering metals. After stripping into very dilute hydrochloric acid, uranium is reduced with ascorbic acid and determined complexometrically. The method permits reliable determination of uranium in the presence of all quadri-, ter- and bivalent metals investigated, molybdenum(VI), tungsten(VI), and vanadium(V).     

15N-NMR spectroscopy. III. Neighboring residue effects in sequence polymers containing glycylglycine units

The tripeptides Phe-Gly-Gly, β-Ala-Gly-Gly, and ?-Aca-Gly-Gly as well as the peptide derivatives δ-isothiocyanatovaleroyl-Gly-Gly and ?-isothiocyanatocaproyl-Gly-Gly were synthesized by using known methods so that the peptide nitrogen between the two glycyl residues was isotopically enriched in ¹⁵N to a level of 0.8–0.9%. These monomer units were then used to produce the sequence polymers (Phe-Gly-Gly)_n, (β-Ala-Gly-Gly)_n, (δ-Ava-Gly-Gly)_n, and (?-Aca-Gly-Gly)_n. The 18.24 MHz ¹⁵N-NMR spectra of the oligo- and polypeptides were obtained by using trifluoroacetic acid as solvent, since the solutions have relatively low viscosity and exhibit a strong negative nuclear Overhauser enhancement of the ¹⁵N signals. For comparison, ¹⁵N-NMR spectra of the homopolymers (Gly)_n, (β-Ala)_n, (γ-Abu)_n, (δ-Ava)_n, and (?-Aca)_n were also recorded. The ¹⁵N signals from the ω-aminoacyl residues in the sequence polymers appear up to 11 ppm upfield of the signals observed for the homopolyamides. The ¹⁵N signals from the two glycyl residues are separated by 3–7 ppm. Comparison with the ¹³C-NMR spectra of the same polymers indicates that ¹⁵N-NMR is better suited for the characterization and sequence analysis of these types of polymers.     

Determination of low dose concentration profiles in solids by means of (n,p) and (n, α) reactions

The isotopes³He,⁶Li,⁷Be and¹⁰B exhibit extremely large cross sections, between 1 and 48 kilobarn, for (n, p) or (n, α) reactions with thermal neutrons. Together with now available extracted thermal neutron fluxes of 10⁽ n·cm⁻²·sec⁻¹ or more, these reactions present a highly sensitive method of detecting the mentioned light elements in any heavy matrix material. Through the experimentally determined energy losses of the emitted protons or α-particles, also well resolved depth profiles can be obtained, as demonstrated here for some relevant examples from semiconductor and fusion technology.     

Über den Dissoziationszustand von geschmolzenem Natriumdiwolframat (Na2W2O7)

Kordes and Nolte are of the opinion that, on melting, Na₂W₂O₇ dissociates according to the reaction whereas Gelsing et al. assume a dissociation into Na⁺ ions and a mixture of chains of WO₄ tetrahedra (WO, W₂O, W₃O, etc.). In the present paper it is demonstrated that a dissociation according to the ideas of Gelsing et al. can excellently explain the cryometric results found by Kordes and Nolte themselves. The dissociation scheme proposed by Gelsing et al., is even more likely than that proposed by Kordes and Nolte when the results of surface tension measurements reported by Gossink and Stevels are taken into account.     

Reactions of Titanium Alkoxides with N-Methylaminoalcohols

N-methylaminoalkoxides of titanium of the type Ti(OR)_4?n(O · CHR′ · CH₂ · NR″R?)_n where R = Et and Pr¹; n = 1–4; and R′ = R″ = H, R? = Me; R′ = H, R″ = R? = Me; R′ = R″ = R? = Me, synthesized by the reactions of titanium alkoxides with aminoalcohols, show interesting variations in their properties like physical state, volatility and molecular complexity. I.r. and p.m.r. spectra of these derivatives have been recorded. A few interchange reactions with methanol and tert-butanol have also been carried out. These aminoalkoxides get cleaved with acetyl chloride and undergo insertion reactions with phenylisocyanate, thus providing the first examples of insertion reactions in such derivatives.