Photocatalytic degradation of methyl methacrylate copolymers

The photolytic and photocatalytic degradation of the copolymers poly(methyl methacrylate-co-butyl methacrylate) (MMA-BMA), poly(methyl methacrylate-co-ethyl acrylate) (MMA-EA) and poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) (MMA-MAA) have been carried out in solution in the presence of solution combustion synthesized TiO₂ (CS TiO₂) and commercial Degussa P-25 TiO₂ (DP 25). The degradation rates of the copolymers were compared with the respective homopolymers. The copolymers and the homopolymers degraded randomly along the chain. The degradation rate was determined using continuous distribution kinetics. For all the polymers, CS TiO₂ exhibited superior photo-activity compared to the uncatalysed and DP 25 systems, owing to its high surface hydroxyl content and high specific surface area. The time evolution of the hydroxyl and hydroperoxide stretching vibration in the Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectra of the copolymers indicated that the degradation rate follows the order MMA-MAA > MMA-EA > MMA-BMA. The same order is observed for the rate coefficients of photocatalytic degradation. The photodegradation rate coefficients were compared with the activation energy of pyrolytic degradation. In degradation by pyrolysis, it was observed that MMA-BMA was the least stable followed by MMA-EA and MMA-MAA. The observed contrast in the order of thermal stability compared to the photo-stability of these copolymers was attributed to the two different mechanisms governing the scission of the polymer and the evolution of the products.     

Degradation of polycaprolactone in supercritical fluids

The degradation of polycaprolactone (PCL) was studied in subcritical and supercritical toluene from 250 to 375 °C at 50 bar. The degradation was also investigated in various solvents like ethylbenzene, o-xylene and benzene at 325 °C and 50 bar. The effect of pressure on degradation was also evaluated at 325 °C at various pressures (35, 50 and 80 bar). The variation of molecular weight with time was analyzed using gel permeation chromatography and modeled using continuous distribution kinetics to evaluate the degradation rate coefficients. PCL degrades by random chain scission in subcritical conditions (250-300 °C) and by chain end scission (325-375 °C) in supercritical conditions in toluene. The degradation of PCL in other solvents at 325 °C was by chain end scission under both subcritical and supercritical conditions indicating that the mode of scission depends on the temperature and not on the supercriticality of the solvent. The thermogravimetric analysis of PCL was investigated at various heating rates (2-24 °C/min) and the activation energy was determined using Friedman, Ozawa and Kissinger methods. It was shown that PCL degrades by random scission at lower temperatures and by chain end scission at higher temperatures again indicating that the mode of scission is dependent on the temperature.     

Hydrothermal Synthesis and Thermal Stability of Natural Mineral Lindgrenite

IntroductionSynthesis of natural minerals is helpful for tracingthe geological origin of mineral formation and forverifying the quality of minerals. The investigations onthe conditions for mineral formation, such as pressure,temperature, and starting mate…     

Thermal studies of novel molecular perovskite energetic material (C6H14N2)[NH4(ClO4)3]

(C6H(14)N2)[NH4(ClO4)3] is a newly developed porous hybrid inorganic-organic framework material with easy access and excellent detonation performances,however,its thermal properties is still unclear and severely hampered further applications.In this study,thermal behaviors and non-isothermal decomposition reaction kinetics of(C6H(14)N2)[NH4(ClO4)3] were investigated systematically by the combination of differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and simultaneous thermal analysis methods.In-situ FTIR spectroscopy technology was applied for investigation of the structure changes of(C6H(14)N2) NH4(ClO4)3]and some selected referents for better understanding of interactions between different components during the heating process.Experiment results indicated that the novel molecular perovskite structure renders(C6H(14)N2)[NH4(ClO4)3] better thermal stability than most of currently used energetic materials.Underhigh temperature s,the stability of the cage skeleton constructed by NH4^+and ClO4^-ions determined the decomposition process rather than organic moiety confined in the skeleton.The simple synthetic method,good detonation performances and excellent thermal properties make(C6H(14)N2)[NH4(ClO4)3] an ideal candidate for the preparation of advanced explosives and propellants.     

In-situ polymerized cross-linked binder for cathode in lithium-sulfur batteries

Volume expansion and polysulfide shuttle effect are the main barriers for the commercialization of lithium-sulfur(Li-S) battery.In this work,we in-situ polymerized a cross-linked binder in sulfur cathode to solve the aforementioned problems using a facile method under mild conditions.Polycarbonate diol(PCDL),triethanolamine(TEA) and hexamethylene diisocyanate(HDI) were chosen as precursors to prepare the cross-linked binder.The in-situ polymerized binder(PTH) builds a strong network in sulfur cathode,which could restrain the volume expansion of sulfu r.Moreover,by adopting functional groups of oxygen atoms and nitrogen atoms,the binder could effectively facilitate transportation of Li-ion and adsorb polysulfide chemically.The Li-S battery with bare sulfur and carbon/sulfur composite cathodes and cross-linked PTH binder displays much better electrochemical performance than that of the battery with PVDF.The PTH-bare S cathode with a mass loading of 5.97 mg/cm^2 could deliver a capacity of 733.3 mAh/g at 0.2 C,and remained 585.5 mAh/g after 100 cycles.This in-situ polymerized binder is proved to be quite effective on restraining the volume expansion and suppressing polysulfide shuttle effect,then improving the electrochemical performance of Li-S battery.     

Controllable Si−C Bond Activation Enables Stereocontrol in the Palladium‐Catalyzed [4+2] Annulation of Cyclopropenes with Benzosilacyclobutanes

A novel and unusual palladium‐catalyzed [4+2] annulation of cyclopropenes with benzosilacyclobutanes is reported. This reaction occurred through chemoselective Si?C(sp²) bond activation in synergy with ring expansion/insertion of cyclopropenes to form new C(sp²)?C(sp³) and Si?C(sp³) bonds. An array of previously elusive bicyclic skeleton with high strain, silabicyclo[4.1.0]heptanes, were formed in good yields with excellent diastereoselectivity under mild conditions. An asymmetric version of the reaction with a chiral phosphoramidite ligand furnished a variety of chiral bicyclic silaheterocycle derivatives with good enantioselectivity (up to 95.5:4.5 er). Owing to the mild reaction conditions, the good stereoselectivity profile, and the ready availability of the functionalized precursors, this process constitutes a useful and straightforward strategy for the synthesis of densely functionalized silacycles.     

Initiation of Protein Synthesis with Non‐Canonical Amino Acids In Vivo

By transplanting identity elements into E. coli tRNA^fMet, we have engineered an orthogonal initiator tRNA (itRNA^Ty2) that is a substrate for Methanocaldococcus jannaschii TyrRS. We demonstrate that itRNA^Ty2 can initiate translation in vivo with aromatic non‐canonical amino acids (ncAAs) bearing diverse sidechains. Although the initial system suffered from low yields, deleting redundant copies of tRNA^fMet from the genome afforded an E. coli strain in which the efficiency of non‐canonical initiation equals elongation. With this improved system we produced a protein containing two distinct ncAAs at the first and second positions, an initial step towards producing completely unnatural polypeptides in vivo. This work provides a valuable tool to synthetic biology and demonstrates remarkable versatility of the E. coli translational machinery for initiation with ncAAs in vivo.     

Total Synthesis of (±)‐Phyllantidine: Development and Mechanistic Evaluation of a Ring Expansion for Installation of Embedded Nitrogen‐Oxygen Bonds

The development of a concise total synthesis of (±)‐phyllantidine ( 1 ), a member of the securinega family of alkaloids containing an unusual oxazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane core, is described. The synthesis employs a unique synthetic strategy featuring the ring expansion of a substituted cyclopentanone to a cyclic hydroxamic acid as a key step that allows facile installation of the embedded nitrogen‐oxygen (N?O) bond. The optimization of this sequence to effect the desired regiochemical outcome and its mechanistic underpinnings were assessed both computationally and experimentally. This synthetic approach also features an early‐stage diastereoselective aldol reaction to assemble the substituted cyclopentanone, a mild reduction of an amide intermediate without N?O bond cleavage, and the rapid assembly of the butenolide found in ( 1 ) via use of the Bestmann ylide.     

Novel hot-melting hyperbranched poly（ester-amine） bearing self-complementary quadruple hydrogen bonding units

Hyperbranched poly（amine-ester）s bearing self-complementary quadruple hydrogen bonding units display excellent mechanical and temperature-dependent melt rheological properties, which make them suitable as novel hot-melting materials.     

SYNTHESIS AND PROPERTIES OF SOLUBLE AROMATIC COPOLYAMIDES CONTAINING PHOSPHINE OXIDE MOIETY

Aromatic copolyamides were synthesized by the Yamazaki phosphorylation method starting from bis(4- carboxyphenyl) phenyl phosphine oxide,terephthalic acid and 4,4'-diaminodiphenyl methane.The copolymers with inherent viscosities of 0.52-0.99 dL/g were obtained.The structures of the copolyamides were characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR and NMR.The glass transition temperatures were measured by DSC and DMA,respectively,and the results showed that the T_gs of the polymers were higher than 287℃.Thermal...