Kinetics and mechanisms in carbocationic polymerization: The quest for true rate constants

This article is a critical analysis of kinetic dataavailable on carbocationic polymerizations. A survey of published propagation rate constant (k_p) data revealed several orders of magnitude differences. In this article, an explanation of this apparent discrepancy is offered with a case study involving the carbocationic polymerization of 2,4,6‐trimethylstyrene (TMS). With the polymerization mechanism originally proposed for this system, k_p = 1.35 × 10⁴ L mol^?1 s^?1 was extracted from experimental data with the Predici polyreaction package. The alternative mechanism yielded k_p = 1.01 × 10⁷ L mol^?1 s^?1, close to that predicted by Mayr's Linear Free Energy Relationship (LFER). We propose that true rate constants can only be obtained from direct competition experiments or from kinetic interpretation based on independently proven mechanisms. The second part of this review discusses critical analysis of the temperature and concentration dependence of various living IB systems. Comparison of the temperature dependence in systems initiated with 2‐ chloro‐2,4, 4‐ trimethylpentane (TMPCl)/TiCl₄ from various laboratories yielded of ΔH ～?25 and ?34.5 kJ/mol for high and low TMPCl/TiCl₄ ratios, respectively. Aromatic (cumyl‐type) initiators show ΔH ～ ?40 kJ/mol, whereas H₂O/TiCl₄ in the presence of the strong electron‐ pair donor dimethylacetamide gave ΔH = ?12 kJ/mol. The significant differences indicate different underlying mechanisms with complex elementary reactions. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 5394–5413, 2005     

Selective palladium-catalyzed arylation(s) of benzaldehyde derivatives by N-heterocarbene ligands

The 2- or 2,6-position(s) of aromatic aldehydes were directly and selectively arylated with aryl chlorides or bromides in the presence of a catalytic system prepared in situ from Pd(OAc)₂, imidazolinium chlorides (1-5) and Cs₂CO₃.     

The effect of thermal pretreatment on the electrochemical response for palladium in aqueous media

Previous work on the electrochemistry of palladium in aqueous acid solution demonstrated the existence of two multilayer hydrous oxide reduction peaks, one at ca. 0.24 V and another at ca. 0.55 V vs. RHE, plus the presence of a reversible active surface state transition at ca. 0.24 V. In the present work with thermally activated palladium it was observed that, in agreement with the hydrous oxide reduction behaviour of the system, there is a second active state transition at E≥ca. 0.45 V. In most of its reactions in aqueous acid solution, apart from its unusual capacity to absorb hydrogen, palladium exhibits properties very similar to those of platinum; however, palladium seems to be more prone to dissolution and subsurface oxygen formation. Also the premonolayer oxidation responses of these two metals are often different as the more active state of the palladium surface is not as readily generated as that of platinum. The electrocatalytic properties of palladium, as reported earlier, correlate quite well with the hydrous oxide and premonolayer oxidation behaviour of this electrode system. Electronic Publication     

Thermal studies on some organotin(IV) complexes with piperidine and 2-aminopyridine dithiocarbamates

The complexes of piperidine dithiocarbamate, 2-aminopyridine dithiocarbamate and organotin(IV) of the type R₃Sn(L¹), R₂Sn(L¹)₂, R₃Sn(L²), R₂Sn(L²)₂, [R=C₆H₅CH₂ (benzyl), p-ClC₆H₄CH₂ (p-chlorobenzyl), L ¹=sodium piperidine dithiocarbamate and L ²=sodium 2-aminopyridine dithiocarbamate] have been synthesised and characterised by spectral studies (IR, UV, ¹H NMR). Thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analytical (DTA) studies have beeen carried out for these complexes and from the TG curves, the order and apparent activation energy for the thermal decomposition reactions have been elucidated. The various thermal studies have been correlated with some structural aspects of the complexes concerned. From DTA curves, the heat of reaction has been calculated.     

Improvement in enzyme activity and stability by addition of low molecular weight polyethylene glycol to sodium bis(2-ethyl-L-hexyl)sulfosuccinate/isooctane reverse micellar system

The activity and stability of Chromobacterium viscosum lipase (glycerolester hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.3)-catalyzed olive oil hydrolysis in sodium bis (2-ethyl-1-hexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT)/isooctane reverse micelles is increased appreciably when low molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) is added to the reverse micelles. To understand the effect of PEG 400 on the phase behavior of the reverse micellar system, the phase diagram of AOT/PEG 400/water/isooctane system was studied. The influences of relevant parameters on the catalytic activity in AOT/PEG 400 reverse micelles were investigated and compared with the results in the simple AOT reverse micelles. In the presence of PEG 400, the linear decreasing trend of the lipase activity with AOT concentration, which is observed in the simple AOT reverse micelles, disappeared. Enzyme entrapped in AOT/PEG reverse micelles was very stable, retaining>75% of its initial activity after 60 d, whereas the half-life in simple AOT reverse micelles was 38 d. The kinetics parameter maximum velocity (V _max)exhibiting the temperature dependence and the activation energy obtained by Arrhenius plot was suppressed significantly by the addition of PEG 400.     

Non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalate) blends

The glass-transition temperature and non-isothermal crystallization of poly(trimethylene terephthalate)/poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalate) (PTT/PEN) blends were investigated by using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The results suggested that the binary blends showed different crystallization and melting behaviors due to their different component of PTT and PEN. All of the samples exhibited a single glass-transition temperature, indicating that the component PTT and PEN were miscible in amorphous phase. The value of T_g predicted well by Gordon-Taylor equation decreased gradually with increasing of PTT content. The commonly used Avrami equation modified by Jeziorny, Ozawa theory and the method developed by Mo were used, respectively, to fit the primary stage of non-isothermal crystallization. The kinetic parameters suggested that the PTT content improved the crystallization of PEN in the binary blend. The crystallization growth dimension, crystallization rate and the degree of crystallinity of the blends were increased with the increasing content of PTT. The effective activation energy calculated by the advanced iso-conversional method developed by Vyazovkin also concluded that the value of E_a depended not only on the system but also on temperature, that is, the binary blend with more PTT component had higher crystallization ability and the crystallization ability is increased with increasing temperature. The kinetic parameters U^* and K_g were also determined, respectively, by the Hoffman-Lauritzen theory.     

Study of reactive ion etching of Si and SiO2 for CFxCl4−x gases

A parametric study of the etching of Si and SiO₂ by reactive ion etching (RIE) was carried out to gain a better understanding of the etching mechanisms. The following fluorocarbons (FCs) were used in order to study the effect of the F-to-Cl atom ratio in the parent molecule to the plasma and the etching properties: CF₄, CF₃Cl, CF₂Cl₂, and CFCl₃ (FC-14, FC-13, FC-12, and FC-11 respectively). The Si etch rate uniformity across the wafer as a function of the temperature of the wafer and the Si load, the optical emission as a function of the temperature of the load, the etch rate of SiO₂ as a function of the sheath voltage, and the mass spectra for each of the FCs were measured. The temperature of the wafer and that of the surrounding Si load strongly influence the etch rate of Si, the uniformity of etching, and the optical emission of F, Cl, and CF₂. The activation energy for the etching reaction of Si during CF₄ RIE was measured. The etch rate of Si depends more strongly on the gas composition than on the sheath voltage; it seems to be dominated by ion-assisted chemical etching. The etching of photoresist shifted from chemical etching to ion-assisted chemical etching as a function of the F-to-Cl ratio and the sheath voltage. The etch rate of SiO₂ depended more strongly on the sheath voltage than on the F-to-Cl ratio.     

钒氧阴离子团簇与小分子碳氢化合物反应的实验和理论研究

为了在分子层次上揭示相关催化反应的机理, 人们对过渡金属氧化物团簇与碳氢化合物分子反应进行了大量研究. 相比于过渡金属氧化物团簇阳离子, 阴离子对一些碳氢化合物的活性弱得多, 因此研究还很少. 在本工作中, 我们通过激光溅射产生钒氧团簇阴离子VxOy, 产生的团簇在接近热碰撞条件下与烷烃(C2H6和C4H10)以及烯烃(C2H4和C3H6) 在一个快速流动反应管中进行反应, 飞行时间质谱用来检测反应前后的团簇分布. 在VxOy与烷烃的反应中, 生成了产物V2O6H-和V4O11H-; 在与烯烃的反应中, 产生了相应的吸附产物V4O11X-(X=C2H4或C3H6). 密度泛函理论计算表明: V2O-6和V4O-11可以活化烷烃(C2H6和C4H10)的C—H键, 也可以与烯烃(C2H4和C3H6)发生3+2环化加成反应形成一个五元环结构(-V-O-C-C-O-), C—H键活化与环加成反应都需经历可以克服的反应能垒. 理论计算与实验观测结果相符合. V2O-6和V4O-11团簇都具有氧原子自由基(O·或O-)的成键特征, 活性O-物种也经常出现在钒氧催化剂表面, 因而本研究在分子水平上, 揭示了表面活性氧物种与碳氢化合物反应的机理.     

Characterization and determination of 28 elements in fly ashes collected in a thermal power plant in Argentina using different instrumental techniques

Different techniques were selected for comprehensive characterization of seven samples of fly ashes collected from the electrostatic precipitator of the San Nicolás thermal power plant (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Particle size was measured using laser based particle size analyzer. X-ray diffraction powder (XRD) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the mineral phase present in the matrix consisting basically of aluminosilicates and large amounts of amorphous material. The predominant crystalline phases were mullite and quartz. Major and minors elements (Al, Ca, Cl, Fe, K, Mg, Na, S, Si and Ti) were detected by energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX). Trace elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, V and Zn) content was quantified by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES). Different acid mixtures and digestion procedures were compared for subsequent ICP OES measurements of the dissolved samples. The digestion procedures used were: i) a mixture of FH + HNO₃ + HClO₄ (open system digestion); ii) a mixture of FH + HNO₃ (MW-assisted digestion); iii) a mixture of HF and aqua regia (MW-assisted digestion). Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was employed for the determination of As, Ba, Co, Cr, Ce, Cs, Eu, Fe, Gd, Hf, La, Lu, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, Ta, Tb, Th, U and Yb. The validation of the procedure was performed by the analysis of two certified materials namely, i) NIST 1633b, coal fly ash and ii) GBW07105, rock. Mean elements content spanned from 41870 μg g^− 1 for Fe to 1.14 μg g^− 1 for Lu. The study showed that Fe (41870 μg g^− 1) ? V (1137 μg g^− 1) > Ni (269 μg g^− 1) > Mn (169 μg g^− 1) are the main components. An enrichment, with respect to crustal average, in many elements was observed especially for As, V and Sb that deserve particular interest from the environmental and human health point of view.     

Surface analysis of plasma‐treated polydimethylsiloxane by x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and surface voltage decay

Surface states of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) treated by plasma were investigated by x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and surface voltage decay. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the formation of a silica‐like (SiO_x, x = 3–4) oxidative surface layer. This layer increased in thickness with increasing exposure duration of plasma. Plasma exposure lowers the surface resistivity from 1.78 × 10¹⁴ to 1.09 × 10¹³ Ω □^?1 with increasing plasma treatment time. By measuring the decay time constant of surface voltage, the calculated surface resistivity was compared with the value measured directly by a voltage–current method; good agreement between the two methods was obtained. It was observed that plasma treatment led to a decrease in the thermal activation energy of the surface conduction from 31.0 kJ mol^?1 for an untreated specimen to 21.8 kJ mol^?1 for a plasma‐treated specimen for 1 h. Our results allow the examination of effects of plasma on the electrical properties of PDMS. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.