Synthesis of functional polymers—Vinylidene fluoride based fluorinated copolymers and terpolymers bearing bromoaromatic side‐group

The radical co‐ and terpolymerization of 4‐[(α,β,β‐trifluorovinyl)oxy]bromo benzene (TFVOBB) with 1,1‐difluoroethylene (or vinylidene fluoride, VDF, or VF₂), hexafluoropropene (HFP), perfluoromethyl vinyl ether (PMVE), and chlorotrifluroroethylene (CTFE) is presented. Although TFVOBB could be thermocyclodimerized, it could not homopolymerize under radical initiation. TFVOBB could be copolymerized in solution under a radical initiator with VDF or CTFE comonomers, while its copolymerization with HFP or PMVE were unsuccessful. The terpolymerization of TFVOBB with VDF and HFP, or VDF and PMVE, or VDF and CTFE also led to original fluorinated terpolymers bearing bromoaromatic side‐groups. The conditions of co‐ and terpolymerization were optimized in terms of the nature of the radical initiators, and of the nature of solvents (fluorinated or nonhalogenated). Various monomer concentrations in the co‐ and terpolymers were assessed by ¹⁹F and ¹H‐NMR spectroscopy. The thermal and physico chemical properties were also studied. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5077–5097, 2004     

Enlarged symmetry groups of finite-size clusters with periodic noundary conditions

Any system that approximates an infinite lattice by a family of finite clusters (with periodic boundary conditions) passes through an intermediate region with enlarged (hidden) symmetry as the system size is increased. The hidden symmetry allows for extra degeneracies and level crossings and has application to exact-diagonalization studies, Monte Carlo simulations, lattice gauge theories, and renormalization group calculations.     

Solution 1H and 13C NMR of new chiral 1,4‐oxazepinium heterocycles and their intermediates from the reaction of 2,4‐pentanedione with α‐L‐amino acids and (R)‐(—)‐2‐phenylglycinol

The reaction of 2,4‐pentanedione ( 1 ) with (R)‐(—)‐2‐phenylglycine methyl ester ( 2 ), (R)‐(—)‐2‐phenylglycinol ( 3 ) and the proteinogenic amino acids (2S,3R)‐(—)‐2‐amino‐3‐hydroxybutyric acid (L ‐threonine) ( 4 ) and (R)‐(—)‐2‐amino‐3‐mercaptopropionic acid (L ‐cysteine) ( 5 ) methyl esters was investigated. The corresponding enamines 6 , 7 and 8 were isolated and characterized spectroscopically whereas 9 , which is unstable, was transformed in situ into 13 . Treatment of 7 , 8 and 9 with boron trifluoride etherate afforded the new [1,4]oxazepines 10 , 11 and [1,4]thiazepine ( 12 ) as their BF₃O^? salts. The structures of the enamines and their corresponding seven‐membered heterocycles were assessed by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy. Variable‐temperature experiments revealed different molecular mobility behavior among these heterocycles. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assignment of chemical shifts in benzohydroxamic acid and structure of its silylated derivatives by 15N enrichment

¹⁵N isotopic enrichment was necessary for the unequivocal assignment of the ¹H NMR lines to the protons in the NH–OH fragment of benzohydroxamic acid, BHXA, C₆H₅CONHOH, in dry dimethyl sulfoxide solutions. The assignment [δ(NH) = 11.21, δ(OH) = 9.01, ¹J(¹⁵N,¹H) = 102.2 Hz, ²J(¹⁵N,¹H) <1.5 Hz], which is opposite to that used by other authors, confirms the assignment extended to BHXA by Brown and co‐workers from the spectra of acetohydroxamic acid. The enrichment allowed also assignment of the ²⁹Si lines in the spectra of disilylated benzohydroxamic acid, (Z)‐tert‐butyldimethylsilyl N‐tert‐butyldimethylsilyloxybenzoimidate (2) and (Z)‐tert‐butyldiphenylsilyl N‐tert‐butyldiphenylsilyloxybenzoimidate (3), and confirmed structure of the monosilylated products, N‐tert‐butyldiphenylsilyloxybenzamide (4) and N‐tert‐butyldiphenylsilyloxy benzoimidic acid (5). Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

NMR studies on a palladium(II) complex containing an incompletely coordinated facultative pentadentate Schiff base ligand

Palladium(II) dichloride reacts with 1,10‐bis(2‐pyrrolyl)‐2,5,9‐triaza‐1,9‐decadiene to give a [Pd(C₁₅H₂₀N₅)]Cl complex in which the ligand is four‐coordinated, leaving one pyrrole group dangling. By using COSY, gHSQC, gHMBC connectivities and NOE experiments it has been concluded that one linkage isomer exists in DMSO solution, in spite of the fact that different sets of N atoms of potentially pentadentate ligand might be involved in coordination, and that the three chelate rings in the complex cation are arranged in a sequence: five‐membered, six‐membered, five‐membered which is different from that (5–5–6) found by x‐ray studies on the related [Ni(C₁₅H₂₀N₅)]Cl compound. NMR studies allowed an unambiguous assignment of all ¹H and ¹³C NMR resonances for the complex. Results of x‐ray structural analysis of [Pd(C₁₅H₂₀N₅)](CH₃COO)H₂O supported the five‐membered, six‐membered, five‐membered ring sequence in the [Pd(C₁₅H₂₀N₅)]⁺ complex cation and show an E (trans) orientation of the dangling pyrrole group with respect to the metal center. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ca(NO3)2•4H2O-catalysed Biginelli Reaction: One-pot Synthesis of 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydropyrimidin-2-ones/pyrimidine-2-thiones under Solvent-free Conditions

The synthesis of 1,2,3,4-dihydropyrimidinone/thione derivatives was achieved in good to excellent yields using calcium(II) nitrate as catalyst to promote the Biginelli three-component condensation reaction from a diversity of aromatic aldehydes, β-keto compounds and urea or thiourea. The reaction was carried out under solvent-free conditions.     

Complete assignment of the 1H and 13C NMR spectra of four 2‐substituted 4a,8a‐cis‐endo‐5,8‐methano‐4a,5,8,8a‐tetrahydronaphthalene‐1,4‐diones

The complete assignment of the ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra of the title enediones, bearing as substituents N‐aziridinyl (a novel compound), methoxy, chloro and methylsulfanyl, is reported. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measurement of Hartmann-Hahn cross-polarization dynamics with quenching of proton T1ρ relaxation dependence

A simple modification of the standard cross-polarization method designed for quenching the proton T_1ρ dependence when studying polarization transfer is presented. It is demonstrated that by using this simple procedure, new and subtle details of cross-polarization dynamics, previously hidden by the T_1ρ(¹H) effect, can be observed in dipolar-coupled spin systems.     

Fluorinated,crosslinkable terpolymers based on vinylidene fluoride and bearing sulfonic acid side groups for fuel‐cell membranes

The radical terpolymerization of 8‐bromo‐1H,1H,2H‐perfluorooct‐1‐ene with vinylidene fluoride (VDF) and perfluoro(4‐methyl‐3,6‐dioxaoct‐7‐ene) sulfonyl fluoride is presented. Changing the feed compositions of these three fluorinated comonomers enabled us to obtain different random‐type poly[vinylidene fluoride‐ter‐perfluoro(4‐methyl‐3,6‐dioxaoct‐7‐ene) sulfonyl fluoride‐ter‐8‐bromo‐1H,1H,2H‐perfluorooct‐1‐ene] terpolymers containing various sulfonyl fluoride and brominated side groups. Yields higher than 70% were reached in all cases. The hydrolysis of the sulfonyl fluoride group into the ? SO₃Li function in the presence of lithium carbonate was quantitatively achieved without the content of VDF being affected, and so dehydrofluorination of the VDF base unit was avoided. These original terpolymers were then crosslinked via dangling bromine atoms in the presence of a peroxide/triallyl isocyanurate system, which produced films insoluble in organic solvents such as acetone and dimethylformamide (which totally dissolved uncured terpolymers). The acidification of ? SO₃Li into the ? SO₃H function enabled protonic membranes to be obtained. The thermal stabilities of the crosslinked materials were higher than those of the uncured terpolymers, and their electrochemical performances were investigated. According to the contents of the sulfonic acid side functions, the ion‐exchange capacities ranged from 0.6 to 1.5 mequiv of H⁺/g, whereas the water uptake and conductivities ranged from 5–26% (±11%) and from 0.5 to 6.0 mS/cm, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4566–4578, 2006     

Nuclear spin-lattice relaxation mechanisms in kaolinite confirmed by magic-angle spinning

Spin-lattice relaxation mechanisms in kaolinite have been reinvestigated by magic-angle spinning (MAS) of the sample. MAS is useful to distinguish between relaxation mechanisms: the direct relaxation rate caused by the dipole-dipole interaction with electron spins is not affected by spinning while the spin diffusion-assisted relaxation rate is. Spin diffusion plays a dominant role in ¹H relaxation. MAS causes only a slight change in the relaxation behavior, because the dipolar coupling between ¹H spins is strong. ²⁹Si relaxes directly through the dipole-dipole interaction with electron spins under spinning conditions higher than 2 kHz. A spin diffusion effect has been clearly observed in the ²⁹Si relaxation of relatively pure samples under static and slow-spinning conditions. ²⁷Al relaxes through three mechanisms: phonon-coupled quadrupole interaction, spin diffusion and dipole-dipole interaction with electron spins. The first mechanism is dominant, while the last is negligibly small. Spin diffusion between ²⁷Al spins is suppressed completely at a spinning rate of 2.5 kHz. We have analyzed the relaxation behavior theoretically and discussed quantitatively. Concentrations of paramagnetic impurities, electron spin-lattice relaxation times and spin diffusion rates have been estimated.