Quantitative Solid State 13C NMR Studies of Highly Cross-Linked Poly(divinylbenzene) Resins

Synthesis of Ion-Exchange Catalysts by Introduction of Fluorinated Ponytails into Novel Mesoporous Polymers

A novel synthetic procedure for the functionalisation of styrenic cross-linked polymers with perfluorinated acyl chains has been reported. The effective significant grafting of the fluorinated moieties is supported by {¹H}-¹³C and {¹⁹F}-¹³C NMR characterisations. This kind of polymer appears promising as catalytic support for a variety of reactions requiring a highly lipophilic catalyst. Indeed, the improved lipophilicity of the materials resulted in enhanced catalytic properties of the corresponding sulfonic materials in the reaction of esterification of a solution in a vegetable oil of stearic acid with methanol.

RAFT Polymerisation and Hypercrosslinking Improve Crosslink Homogeneity and Surface Area of Styrene Based PolyHIPEs

The influence of a polymerisation mechanism (reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer; RAFT vs. free radical polymerisation; FRP) on the porous structure of highly porous poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) polymers was investigated. The highly porous polymers were synthesised via high internal phase emulsion templating (polymerizing the continuous phase of a high internal phase emulsion), utilising either FRP or RAFT processes. Furthermore, residual vinyl groups in the polymer chains were used for the subsequent crosslinking (hypercrosslinking) applying di-tert-butyl peroxide as the source of radicals. A significant difference in the specific surface area of polymers prepared by FRP (between 20 and 35 m²/g) and samples prepared by RAFT polymerisation (between 60 and 150 m²/g) was found. Based on the results from gas adsorption and solid state NMR, it could be concluded that the RAFT polymerisation affects the homogeneous distribution of the crosslinks in the highly crosslinked styrene-co-divinylbenzene polymer network. During the initial crosslinking, RAFT polymerisation leads to the increase in mesopores with diameters between 2 and 20 nm, resulting in good accessibility of polymer chains during the hypercrosslinking reaction, which is reflected in increased microporosity. The fraction of micropores created during the hypercrosslinking of polymers prepared via RAFT is around 10% of the total pore volume, which is up to 10 times more than for polymers prepared by FRP. Specific surface area, mesopore surface area, and total pore volume after hypercrosslinking reach almost the same values, regardless of the initial crosslinking. The degree of hypercrosslinking was confirmed by determination of the remaining double bonds by solid-state NMR analysis.

Olefin Cross Metathesis as a Versatile Method for the Facile Functionalization of Porous Polymers

Olefin cross metathesis has been employed for the first time for the postpolymerization chemical modification of porous polymers. High quality microspheres of poly(divinylbenzene) were synthesized by the precipitation polymerization of divinylbenzene-55 in porogenic solvents, and the olefin cross metathesis reactions of the pendent (polymer-bound) vinyl groups not consumed by polymerization were performed with diverse coupling partners in dichloromethane using the Grubbs 2 catalyst, leading to microspheres decorated with a wide range of functional groups.

Mesoporous Palladium N,N'-Bis(3-Allylsalicylidene)o-Phenylenediamine-Methyl Acrylate Resins as Heterogeneous Catalysts for the Heck Coupling Reaction

Palladium N,N'-bis(3-allylsalicylidene)o-phenylenediamine complex (PdAS) immobilized onto mesoporous polymeric methyl acrylate (MA) based resins (PdAS(x)-MA, x = 1, 2, 5, or 10 wt.%) were successfully prepared as heterogeneous catalysts for the Heck reaction. The catalysts were synthesized via radical suspension polymerization using PdAS as a metal chelate monomer, divinylbenzene and MA as co-monomers. The effect of the PdAS(x) content on the physicochemical properties of the resins is also reported. The catalysts were characterized by using a range of analytical techniques. The large surface area (>580 m²·g^-1) and thermal stability (up to 250 °C) of the PdAS(x)-MA materials allows their application as catalysts in the C-C coupling reaction between iodobenzene and MA in the presence of trimethylamine at 120 °C using DMF as the solvent. The PdAS(10)-MA catalyst exhibited the highest catalytic performance with no significant catalytic loss being observed after five reuses, thereby indicating excellent catalyst stability in the reaction medium.

Chiral catalysts immobilized on achiral polymers: effect of the polymer support on the performance of the catalyst

Achiral polymeric supports can have important positive effects on the activity, stability and selectivity of supported chiral catalysts.

Macroporous uniform azide- and alkyne-functional polymer microspheres with tuneable surface area: synthesis, in-depth characterization and click-modification

With surface areas of up to 467 m² g⁻¹, crosslinked azide- and alkyne-functional poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) microparticles enable versatile modification throughout the particle.

An efficient ultrasound assisted approach for the impregnation of room temperature ionic liquid onto Dowex 1×8 resin matrix and its application toward the enhanced adsorption of chromium (VI)

The work discussed in this paper is based on the utilization of ultrasound in conjunction with an ionic liquid (Aliquat 336) impregnated Dowex 1×8 resin for the effective adsorption of chromium. Ionic liquids are known for their selectivity toward metal extraction and ultrasonic medium offers efficient energy transfer for impregnating the ionic liquid in the resin matrix. The molecular interaction between the ionic liquid impregnated resin and chromium was studied through various physicochemical and spectroscopic techniques. The influence of various analytical parameters on the adsorption of Cr(VI) such as pH, adsorbent dosage, temperature and interference of foreign ions was studied in detail. Chromium (VI) was quantitatively adsorbed in the pH range of 3.5-4, with a high adsorption capacity of 230.9 mg g(-1) in conformity with the Langmuir isotherm model. The study of thermodynamic parameters showed that the adsorption process is exothermic and spontaneous. The adsorbent could be regenerated using 1 mol L(-1) HCl-0.28 mol L(-1) ascorbic acid mixture. Chromium could be effectively detoxified from an industrial effluent and finally the developed method was validated with the analysis of a certified reference material (BCR-715). The obtained results indicated that the ultrasonic assisted impregnation of the room temperature ionic liquid significantly enhances and improves the removal efficiency of Cr(VI).

An enhanced adsorption methodology for the detoxification of chromium using n-octylamine impregnated Amberlite XAD-4 polymeric sorbent

The remediation of heavy metals requires the development of efficient adsorbents. Macroporous polystyrene divinyl benzene based resins are known for their excellent surface characteristics for the effective adsorption of metals. In this paper, we propose an effective adsorption procedure for chromium (VI) using aliphatic primary amine as a guest in Amberlite XAD-4 polymeric sorbent as the host. The adsorption of chromium was quantitative at pH 2.5. The adsorption process was in accordance with pseudo second order kinetics and the maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 75.93 mg g(-1) with good adherence to Langmuir isotherm model. The free energy change ΔG(0) increased with temperature and the negative ΔH(0) and ΔS(0) values indicate the exothermic nature of adsorption and decreased randomness at the adsorbent-solution interface. In aqueous medium, the water molecules surround the hydrophobic host polymeric matrix and this cage effect is responsible for the reduction in entropy of the system. The regeneration of the adsorbent was effective in alkaline medium and the efficacy of the adsorbent was tested for the removal of chromium from tannery waste water.

Preparation and characterization of polar polymeric adsorbents with high surface area for the removal of phenol from water

Preparation of methyl methacrylate (MMA)/divinylbenzene (DVB) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA)/DVB copolymers via suspension polymerization yielded precursors which possess residual vinyl groups. Post-crosslinking of appropriate dichloroethane swollen precursors without external crosslinking agent in the presence of anhydrous ferric chloride (FeCl(3)) yielded post-crosslinked resins with high surface area and suitable polarity. FT-IR spectrum indicated that increasing the proportion of MMA or EGDMA in monomer mixtures notably reduces the amount of the pendant vinyl groups onto the matrix of the precursors. Furthermore, the pendant vinyl groups of precursors were almost absent when the content of MMA and EGDMA increased to 40 mol% and 20 mol% in the monomers, respectively. The specific surface areas and pore volumes of copolymers showed a remarkable increase after post-crosslinking. Experimental results showed that isotherms of phenol adsorption onto these polymeric adsorbents could be represented by Freundlich model and Langmuir model reasonably. PDE-5 pc exhibited higher adsorption capacity of phenol than other adsorbents, which resulted from synergistic effect of larger specific surface area and polar groups onto the network. Column adsorption/desorption dynamic curves suggested that PDE-5 pc is a potential candidate for treatment of chemical effluent containing phenol and phenolic pollutants.

Tailored Composite Polymer-Metal Nanoparticles by Miniemulsion Polymerization and Thiol-ene Functionalization

A simple and modular synthetic approach, based on miniemulsion polymerization, has been developed for the fabrication of composite polymer-metal nanoparticle materials. The procedure produces well-defined composite structures consisting of gold, silver or MnFe(2)O(4) nanoparticles (∼10 nm in diameter) encapsulated within larger spherical nanoparticles of poly(divinylbenzene) (∼100 nm in diameter). This methodology readily permits the incorporation of multiple metal domains into a single polymeric particle, while still preserving the useful optical and magnetic properties of the metal nanoparticles. The morphology of the composite particles is retained upon increasing the inorganic content, and also upon redispersion in organic solvents. Finally, the ability to tailor the surface chemistry of the composite nanoparticles and incorporate steric stabilizing groups using simple thiol-ene chemistry is demonstrated.

Determination of T1rhoH relaxation rates in charred and uncharred wood and consequences for NMR quantitation

The performance of three different techniques for determining proton rotating frame relaxation rates (T1rhoH) in charred and uncharred woods is compared. The variable contact time (VCT) experiment is shown to over-estimate T1rhoH. particularly for the charred samples, due to the presence of slowly cross-polarizing 13C nuclei. The variable spin (VSL) or delayed contact experiment is shown to overcome these problems; however, care is needed in the analysis to ensure rapidly relaxing components are not overlooked. T1rhoH is shown to be non-uniform for both charred and uncharred wood samples; a rapidly relaxing component (T1rhoH = 0.46-1.07 ms) and a slowly relaxing component (T1rhoH = 3.58-7.49) is detected in each sample. T1rhoH for each component generally decreases with heating temperature (degree of charring) and the proportion of rapidly relaxing component increases. Direct T1rhoH determination (via 1H detection) shows that all samples contain an even faster relaxing component (0.09-0.24 ms) that is virtually undetectable by the indirect (VCT and VSL) techniques. A new method for correcting for T1rhoH signal losses in spin counting experiments is developed to deal with the rapidly relaxing component detected in the VSL experiment. Implementation of this correction increased the proportion of potential 13C CPMAS NMR signal that can be accounted for by up to 50% for the charred samples. An even greater proportion of potential signal can be accounted for if the very rapidly relaxing component detected in the direct T1rhoH determination is included; however, it must be kept in mind that this experiment also detects 1H pools which may not be involved in 1H-13C cross-polarization.

Polymeric supports for solid phase synthesis

The nature of the polymer support plays an integral role in solid phase organic synthesis. Combinatorial and highly parallel synthetic strategies have stimulated the development of new polymer support materials with compositions and properties that allow a broader spectrum of organic transformations. Extension of solid phase organic synthesis to encoded microreactors provides an efficient methodology for preparing large numbers of discrete compounds.