Temperature‐Sensitive Amorphous Polyurethanes

Abstract

Shape‐memory polymers based on segmental polyurethanes (PUs) were synthesized from 1,3‐butane diol (1,3‐BD), hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), and 4,4′‐diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), and characterized in terms of thermomechanical, dynamic mechanical, rheological, and thermal properties. It was found that soft segments (1,3‐BD and HDI) and hard segments (1,3‐BD and MDI) were well phase mixed to give a single glass transition temperature (T _g) that was easily controlled by hard segment content. With the increase in hard segment content, T _g, melt viscosity, rubbery plateau, modulus, relaxation time, and shape recovery increased, and shape fixability for repeated cycles decreased.     

Synthesis and radical polymerization of methacrylate endowed with bicyclobis(γ‐butyrolactone) moiety through methylene linker

A series of methacrylates bearing bicyclobis(γ‐butyrolactone) (BBL) moiety were synthesized and radically polymerized to afford the corresponding poly(methacrylate)s bearing BBL moiety in the side chain, with expecting that the high polarity and rigidity of BBL would be inherited by the polymers. The resulting polymers were soluble in polar aprotic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide and N,N‐dimethylformamide because of the high polarity of the BBL moiety. The glass transition temperatures (T_g) of the polymers depended on the length of methylene linker that tethered the methacrylate and BBL moieties, making the use of shorter linkers lead to higher T_gs. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2462–2468     

Facile preparation of boronic acid‐functionalized magnetic nanoparticles with a high capacity and their use in the enrichment of cis‐diol‐containing compounds from plasma

The use of bronate affinity adsorbents is a new separation method that appeared recently with great potential for specific extraction of cis‐diol‐containing compounds. In this work,a new strategy for the facile construction of boronic acid‐functionalized Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@FPBA MNPs) with a high capacity was described. The extraction capacity of the Fe₃O₄@FPBA MNPs was determined to be 66.0 ± 2.7 µmol/g for catechol and 80.6 ± 2.0 µmol/g for dopamine, being higher than that for the reported methods. The Fe₃O₄@FPBA MNPs were used to extract four cis‐diol drugs: caffeic acid isopropyl ester, caffic acid bornyl ester, isopropyl 3‐(3,4‐dihydroxyphenyl)‐2‐hydroxypropanoate and 3‐(3, 4‐dihydroxyphenyl)‐2‐hydroxylpropionic acid – from the spiked rabbit plasma, and the recoveries of four drugs were between 87.29 and104.37% with relative standard deviations ranging from 1.34 to 8.81%. Under the most favorable conditions, the solid‐phase extraction combined with HPLC‐UV for the analysis of four drugs in plasma could eliminate interferences from endogenous components of the biological fluids and exhibited sufficient precision and accuracy. These results showed that the prepared Fe₃O₄@FPBA MNPs were qualified for efficiently enriching and determining the trace cis‐diol substances from biological samples. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Redox‐Controlled Olefin (Co)Polymerization Catalyzed by Ferrocene‐Bridged Phosphine‐Sulfonate Palladium Complexes

The facile and reversible interconversion between neutral and oxidized forms of palladium complexes containing ferrocene‐bridged phosphine sulfonate ligands was demonstrated. The activity of these palladium complexes could be controlled using redox reagents during ethylene homopolymerization, ethylene/methyl acrylate copolymerization, and norbornene oligomerization. Specifically in norbornene oligomerization, the neutral complexes were not active at all whereas the oxidized counterparts showed appreciable activity. In situ switching between the neutral and oxidized forms resulted in an interesting “off” and “on” behavior in norbornene oligomerization. This work provides a new strategy to control the olefin polymerization process.     

Stabilization of polystyrene by styrylquinoline containing methacrylates

Abstract

The thermostability of polysterene with/without new styrylquinoline containing methacrylic fragments has been described in the present work. Polystyrene and copolymers based on styrene and new methacrylic styrylquinoline containing monomers were synthesized by free radical thermoinitiated polymerization in the presence of 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile (1?wt%) as initiator at inert atmosphere. The impact of 2-[2-(4-methoxyphenyl)ethenyl]quinolin-8-yl 2-methylpropyl-2-enoate (М1), 2-(2-phenylethenyl)quinolin-8-yl 2-methylpropyl-2-enoate (М2), 2-[2-(4-nitrophenyl)ethenyl]quinolin-8-yl 2-methylpropyl-2-enoate (М3) on thermal stability of polystyrene was investigated. The thermostability of polystyrene and copolymers ST:M1, ST:M2, ST:M3 were studied by dynamic thermograviametric analysis. It was shown that destruction of polystyrene with corresponding units M1-M2 starts at 41–42°С higher, than reference polystyrene.     

Complete 1H NMR assignments of pyrrolizidine alkaloids and a new eudesmanoid from Senecio polypodioides

Chemical investigation of the aerial parts of Senecio polypodioides lead to the isolation of the new eudesmanoid 1β‐angeloyloxyeudesm‐7‐ene‐4β,9α‐diol ( 1 ) and the known dirhamnosyl flavonoid lespidin ( 3 ), while from roots, the known 7β‐angeloyloxy‐1‐methylene‐8α‐pyrrolizidine ( 5 ) and sarracine N‐oxide ( 6 ), as well as the new neosarracine N‐oxide ( 8 ), were obtained. The structure of 1 and 8 was elucidated by spectral means. Complete assignments of the ¹H NMR data for 5 , 6 , sarracine ( 7 ), and 8 were made using one‐dimensional and two‐dimensional NMR experiments and by application of the iterative full spin analysis of the PERCH NMR software. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tetramethyl guanidine-assisted synthesis and thermal crosslinking of multifunctional benzoxazine monomers based on natural phloretic acid

An efficient strategy to synthesize novel biobased multifunctional benzoxazine compounds was developed using the 1,1,3,3-tetramethyl guanidine (TMG)-triggered esterification of natural phloretic acid with organic halides as a key synthetic step. First, phloretic acid was combined with either aniline or furfurylamine to prepare the corresponding carboxylic acid-functional monobenzoxazine monomer. Next, the use of TMG enabled an efficient esterification of these compounds with di-, tri-, and tetra-functional benzyl bromide compounds at room temperature to afford a series of new multi-benzoxazine monomers tethered to an aromatic core. The effect of the functionality of the monomers on the curing process was analyzed, indicating that the reactivity during the thermally induced ring-opening increases with the number of furan and oxazine rings in the monomers. The resulting thermosets revealed good correlation between the number of oxazine rings in the structure of the monomer and the properties of the crosslinked materials. Furfurylamine-based polybenzoxazines showed improved thermal behavior compared to the aniline-based systems, due to the role of furan rings. All materials showed high T_g, good thermal stability, and promising flame retardancy properties.     

Poly(ether ketone)s bearing pendent sulfonate groups via copolyacylation of a sulfonated monomer and isomeric AB‐type comonomers

Poly(ether ketone)s bearing pendent sulfonate groups (SPEK‐x/y/z) have been successfully synthesized via copolyacylation of a presulfonated monomer SBP and two isomeric AB‐type self‐condensable comonomers, that is, 4‐phenoxybenzoic acid (p‐POBA) and 3‐phenoxybenzoic acid (m‐POBA). Proton‐exchange membranes (PEMs) with precisely controlled ion‐exchange capacity (IEC) and high strength can be readily prepared from these ionomers. PEMs prepared from p‐POBA other than m‐POBA exhibit much higher dimensional stability and proton conductivity at elevated temperature above 60 °C, showing prominent isomeric (para vs. meta) effects of polymer structural units. Furthermore, properties of PEMs prepared from p‐POBA are optimized by tuning IEC. SPEK‐1.0/2.2/0 with an IEC of 1.84 mmol g^?1 exhibits acceptable swelling, much higher proton conductivity, and lower methanol permeability than commercial Nafion 115, implying potential application in direct methanol fuel cells. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 200–207     

Polar Isotactic and Syndiotactic Polypropylenes by Organozirconium-Catalyzed Masking-Reagent-Free Propylene and Amino–Olefin Copolymerization

Polar functionalized isotactic and syndiotactic polypropylenes (PPs) are synthesized by direct, masking-reagent-free propylene and amino–olefin (AO, CH₂=CH(CH₂)_xNⁿPr₂, x=2, 3, 6) copolymerizations using the activated precatalysts rac-[Me₂Si(indenyl)₂]ZrMe₂ and [Me₂C(Cp)(fluorenyl)]ZrMe₂, respectively. Polymerization activities at 25 °C are as high as 4208 and 535 kg/(mol h atm) with AO incorporation up to 4.0 mol % and 1.6 mol %, respectively. Remarkably, introducing the amino-olefin comonomers significantly enhances stereoselection for both isotactic (mmmm: 59.5 %→91.0 %) and syndiotactic (rrrr: 66.3 %→81.3 %) products.     

Direct Participation of a Peripheral Side Chain of a Corrin Ring in Coenzyme B12 Catalysis

The crystal structures of the B₁₂‐dependent isomerases (eliminating) diol dehydratase and ethanolamine ammonia‐lyase complexed with adenosylcobalamin were solved with and without substrates. The structures revealed that the peripheral a‐acetamide side chain of the corrin ring directly interacts with the adenosyl group to maintain the group in the catalytic position, and that this side chain swings between the original and catalytic positions in a synchronized manner with the radical shuttling between the coenzyme and substrate/product. Mutations involving key residues that cooperatively participate in the positioning of the adenosyl group, directly or indirectly through the interaction with the a‐side chain, decreased the turnover rate and increased the relative rate of irreversible inactivation caused by undesirable side reactions. These findings guide the engineering of enzymes for improved catalysis and producing useful chemicals by utilizing the high reactivity of radical species.