Hydrolysis-Condensation Kinetics of Different Silane Coupling Agents

Abstract

The hydrolysis kinetics of 14 alkoxy silane coupling agents were carried out in an ethanol:water 80:20 (w/w) solution under acidic conditions and were monitored by ¹H, ¹³C, and ²⁹Si NMR spectroscopy. Acidic conditions were selected in order to enhance the silanol formation and to slow down the self-condensation between the resulting hydrolysed silanol groups. In situ ²⁹Si NMR spectroscopy allowed the determination of the intermediate species as a function of the reaction time. Thus, the following silane coupling agents were studied: 3-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxy silane (MPMS), 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxy silane (MRPMS), 3-cyanopropyl triethoxy silane (CPES), triethoxy vinyl silane (VES), trimethoxy (2-phenylethyl) silane (PEMS), octyl triethoxy silane (OES), trimethoxy (7-octen-1-yl) silane (OEMS), 3-aminopropyl triethoxy silane (APES), 3-aminopropyl trimethoxy silane (APMS), 3-(2-aminoethylamino)propyl trimethoxy silane, (DAMS), 3-[2-(2-aminoethylamino)-ethylamino]propyl trimethoxy silane (TAMS), 4-amino-3,3-dibutyl trimethoxy silane (ADBMS), trimethoxy [3-(phenylamino)propyl] silane (PAPMS), and triethoxy-3-(2-imidazolin-1-yl) propyl silane (IZPES). A parameter quantifying the grafting potentiality of each silane coupling agent towards OH-rich solid substrates (such as cellulose) was established as a function of the nature of the alkoxy groups (methoxy or ethoxy), as well as that of the fourth substituent (vinyl, aminopropyl, etc.) of the silane studied.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT     

Poly(vinyl alcohol)-based Amphiphilic Copolymer Aggregates as Drug Carrying Nanoparticles

A series of amphiphilic polyisobutylene-block-poly(vinyl alcohol) (PIB-b-PVA) copolymers of constant PIB and varying PVA block length was synthesized by living carbocationic polymerization and their solution behavior was studied. The synthesis involved the preparation of polyisobutylene-b-poly(tert.-butyl vinyl ether) followed by hydrolysis with hydrogen bromide. The copolymers were characterized by gel permeation chromatography, ¹H-NMR, and MALDI-TOF MS methods. The micellization behavior of the copolymers was investigated in aqueous media by direct dissolution and dialysis using static and dynamic light scattering. The critical micelle concentration, micelle size, aggregation number, and micelle shape were determined. The ability of the aggregates as drug carrying nanodevices was also investigated by doping them with indomethacin. UV-Vis measurements showed that the solubility of indomethacine increased significantly. Our findings suggest that the solubility is largely dependent upon the block segment ratios.     

Detection of layer‐by‐layer self‐assembly multilayer films by low‐temperature plasma mass spectrometry

The detection of layer‐by‐layer self‐assembly multilayer films was carried out using low‐temperature plasma (LTP) mass spectrometry (MS) under ambient conditions. These multilayer films have been prepared on quartz plates through the alternate assembling of oppositely charged 4‐aminothiophenol (4‐ATP) capped Au particles and thioglycolic acid (TGA) capped Ag particles. An LTP probe was used for direct desorption and ionization of chemical components on the films. Without the complicated sample preparation, the structure information of 4‐ATP and TGA on films was studied by LTP‐MS. Characteristic ions of 4‐ATP (M) and TGA (F), including [M]^+?, [M‐NH₂]⁺, [M‐HCN‐H]⁺, and [F + H]⁺, [F‐H]⁺, [F‐OH]⁺, [F‐COOH]⁺ were recorded by LTP‐MS on the films. However, [M‐CS‐H]⁺ and [F‐SH]⁺ could not be observed on the film, which were detected in the neat sample. In addition, the semi‐quantitative analysis of chemical components on monolayer film was carried out, and the amounts of 4‐ATP and TGA on monolayer surface were 45 ng/mm² and 54 ng/mm², respectively. This resulted the ionization efficiencies of 72% for 4‐ATP and 54% for TGA. In order to evaluate the reliability of present LTP‐MS, the correlations between this approach and some traditional methods, such as UV–vis spectroscopy, atomic force microscope and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy were studied, which resulted the correlation coefficients of higher than 0.9776. The results indicated that this technique can be used for analyzing the films without any pretreatment, which possesses great potential in the studies of self‐assembly multilayer films. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nucleation of Organic Crystals—A Molecular Perspective

The outcome of synthetic procedures for crystalline organic materials strongly depends on the first steps along the molecular self‐assembly pathway, a process we know as crystal nucleation. New experimental techniques and computational methodologies have spurred significant interest in understanding the detailed molecular mechanisms by which nuclei form and develop into macroscopic crystals. Although classical nucleation theory (CNT) has served well in describing the kinetics of the processes involved, new proposed nucleation mechanisms are additionally concerned with the evolution of structure and the competing nature of crystallization in polymorphic systems. In this Review, we explore the extent to which CNT and nucleation rate measurements can yield molecular‐scale information on this process and summarize current knowledge relating to molecular self‐assembly in nucleating systems.