Preparation of flame retardant polyamide 6 composite with melamine cyanurate nanoparticles in situ formed in extrusion process

This paper is focused on in situ preparation of melamine cyanurate (MCA) nanoparticles from reaction of melamine (MEL) and cyanuric acid (CA) and their flame retardant polyamide 6 (PA6) composite in the extrusion process through a novel reactive processing method. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were utilized to characterize the in situ formed MCA nanoparticles and their blends with PA6. Introduction of pentaerythritol (LTP) and water-bound plasticizer dioctyl phthalate (DPT) into the extrusion reaction system greatly inhibits the evaporation of water required for melamine and cyanuric acid reaction at high temperature (higher than 180 °C), laying a foundation for successful in situ preparation of MCA through reactive processing. XRD and FT-IR measurements indicate that under the effect of pentaerythritol, dioctyl phthalate and water, melamine really reacts with cyanuric acid to in situ form MCA in extrusion process. The reaction degree is close to 100%. A very important finding through SEM is that the in situ formed MCA particles, which were found to have aspect ratio of about 7.5, radial size in the range of 70-300 nm (mostly 70-90 nm) and crystallite size of less than 22 nm, are uniformly dispersed in the matrix PA6 at nanoscale. The in situ formed MCA nanoparticles greatly improve the flame retardancy and the mechanical properties of flame-retarded PA6 materials, and the introduced plasticizer dioctyl phthalate also ameliorates the related impact property. The obtained flame-retarded PA6 materials have good comprehensive performance with flame retardancy UL-94 V-0 rating at 1.6 and 3.2 mm thickness, tensile strength 48.0 MPa, elongation at break 106.3% and Izod notched impact strength 8.92 kJ/m². Compared with flame-retarded PA6 material with in situ formed MCA, the one prepared through conventional blending of PA6 with commercial MCA product has improved tensile strength but deteriorated impact strength and flame retardancy.     

Structure-Activity Relationship of Insecticidal Steroids. III. Δ4,7-6-Ketosteroids

The toxicity of steroids 1-11 for colorado beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say.) larvae was studied by contact-intestinal treatment. Active insect-growth regulators were found among the studied compounds.     

Rapid Mo(CO)6 catalysed one-pot deoxygenation of heterocyclic halo-benzyl alcohols with Lawesson’s reagent

A fast and efficient microwave promoted one-pot method for deoxygenation of heterocyclic halo-benzyl alcohols has been developed. The method does not cause dehalogenation of the substrates and provides the deoxygenated products in high yield after only 30 min.     

Mössbauer Spectroscopic Studies of Chlorostannate(II) Complexes in Frozen Aqueous Solutions

Mössbauer parameters of frozen aqueous solutions of Sn(ClO₄)₂ in 0.5 M HClO₄ did not change with the concentration of NaClO₄, so that it was used to keep the ionic strength at the desired level. When NaCl was added into Sn(ClO₄)₂ solutions, isomer shift did not change, but quadrupole splitting did. Therefore, stability constants were calculated from the quadrupole splitting data, which were in good agreement with the published values. The observed spectra could be resolved into components.     

Investigations of precipitates in heat treated AgPd30/CuSn6 layers

The subject of the investigations are precipitation zones, which grew as a result of chemical diffusion in AgPd30/CuSn6 bimetals. These precipitation zones have been characterized by metallography, electron probe microanalysis and x-ray diffraction. The growth of precipitation zones in the plating layer and in the substrate layer in dependence on time have been determined. The use of x-ray diffraction alone for the identification of the precipitates could not supply satisfying results in every case. This problem was solved by the application of electron probe microanalysis using a correction method, which allows the estimation of the chemical composition of small particles.Dedicated to Professor Dr. rer. nat. Dr. h. c. Hubertus Nickel on the occasion of his 65th birthday     

Binding Ensembles of p53-MDM2 Peptide Inhibitors by Combining Bayesian Inference and Atomistic Simulations

Designing peptide inhibitors of the p53-MDM2 interaction against cancer is of wide interest. Computational modeling and virtual screening are a well established step in the rational design of small molecules. But they face challenges for binding flexible peptide molecules that fold upon binding. We look at the ability of five different peptides, three of which are intrinsically disordered, to bind to MDM2 with a new Bayesian inference approach (MELD × MD). The method is able to capture the folding upon binding mechanism and differentiate binding preferences between the five peptides. Processing the ensembles with statistical mechanics tools depicts the most likely bound conformations and hints at differences in the binding mechanism. Finally, the study shows the importance of capturing two driving forces to binding in this system: the ability of peptides to adopt bound conformations (ΔGconformation) and the interaction between interface residues (ΔGinteraction).     

2,2,4-Trimethylhydroquinolines in the Bischler-Melau Reaction

8-R-1-Aryl-4,4,6-trimethyl-4H-pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij]quinolines have been synthesized by the Bischler-Melau reaction in the series of 6-R-2,2,4-trimethylhydroquinolines.