Efficient water‐soluble drag reducing star polymers with improved mechanical stability

We describe here the first example of the synthesis of 4‐arm star poly(acrylic acid) for use as a water‐soluble drag reducing agent, by applying Cu(0)‐mediated polymerization technique. High molecular weight 4‐arm star poly(tert‐butyl acrylate) (M_n = 3.0–9.0 × 10⁵ g mol^?1) was first synthesized using 4,4′‐oxybis(3,3‐bis(2‐bromopropionate)butane as an initiator and a simple Cu(0)/TREN catalyst system. Then, 4‐arm star poly(tert‐butyl acrylate) were subjected to hydrolysis using trifluoroacetic acid resulting in water‐soluble 4‐arm star poly(acrylic acid). Drag reduction test rig analysis showed 4‐arm star poly(acrylic acid) to be effective as a drag reducing agent with drag reduction of 24.3%. Moreover, 4‐arm star poly(acrylic acid) exhibited superior mechanical stability when compared with a linear poly(acrylic acid) and commercially available drag reducing polymers; Praestol and poly(ethylene oxide). The linear poly(acrylic acid), Praestol, and poly(ethylene oxide) all showed a large decrease in drag reduction of 8–12% when cycled 30 times through the drag reduction test rig while, in contrast, 4‐arm star poly(acrylic acid) demonstrated much higher mechanical stability. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 335–344     

On the diophantine equation x 2 + 2 a · 3 b · 11 c = y n

In this note, we find all the solutions of the Diophantine equation x ² + 2 ^a · 3 ^b · 11 ^c = y ⁿ , in nonnegative integers a, b, c, x, y, n ≥ 3 with x and y coprime.     

Chitosan-based tyrosinase optical phenol biosensor employing hybrid nafion/sol-gel silicate for MBTH immobilization

The development of an optical biosensor based on immobilization of 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone (MBTH) in hybrid nafion/sol-gel silicate film and tyrosinase in chitosan film for the detection of phenolic compounds has been described. Tyrosinase was immobilized in chitosan film deposited on the hybrid nafion/sol-gel silicate film containing MBTH. The enzymatic oxidation product of phenolic compounds were stabilized through formation of adduct with MBTH to produce a maroon color adduct. The color intensity of adduct was found to increase proportionally with the increase of the substrate concentrations after 5 min exposure. The linearity of the biosensor towards phenol, catechol and m-cresol were in the respective concentration range of 0.5-7.0, 0.5-10.0 and 1.0-13.0 mg/L with detection limit of 0.18, 0.23 and 0.43 mg/L, respectively. The biosensor shows a good stability for at least 3 months.     

Synthesis characterization and biological study of diorganotin(IV) complexes of monomethyl phthalate

The synthesis and characterization of new coordination compounds of some organotin(IV) chlorides with monomethyl phthalate is reported; the ligand molecules appear to be bound to the tin atom through carbonyl oxygen atoms. Their structures have been characterized by elemental analyses, molar conductance, and bonding in these complexes is discussed in terms of their IR, (1)H, (13)C, (119)Sn NMR and (119 m)Sn M?ssbauer spectral studies. The spectroscopic results obtained are in full agreement with the proposed 2:1 stoichiometry. The complexes soluble in DMSO have been screened against a wide spectrum of bacteria and the results obtained are quite promising. The LD(50) values have also been determined in the albino rats. Some of the complexes also exhibit high anti-inflammatory activity.     

Derivatization of 2-chlorophenol with 4-amino-anti-pyrine: a novel method for improving the selectivity of molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction of 2-chlorophenol from water

Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) may not selectively recognize small template of limited number of functional groups, such as 2-chlorophenol (2-CP). In this work, a novel method was proposed to improve the recognition ability of the molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE) of 2-CP from environmental waters. This was achieved by derivatization of 2-CP with 4-amino-anti-pyrine (4-AAP) to enlarge its molecular size and add more binding sites. For that purpose, two MISPE methods of 2-CP were developed. In method 1, a polymer imprinted with 2-CP was used as the extracting sorbent but it suffered from low selectivity and high detection limit of 2-CP (7.10 ng L⁻¹). In method 2, a polymer imprinted with 4-AAP derivatized 2-CP (2-CP-4-AAP) was used as the extracting sorbent. Prior to loading the water sample it was subjected to a simple derivatization procedure with 4-AAP. Method 2 showed high recognition ability/selectivity towards 2-CP-4-AAP with lower detection limit of 0.05 ng L⁻¹ for 2-CP-4-AAP. Method 2 was able to detect the presence of 2-CP-4-AAP in unspiked real water samples and almost full spike recovery was achieved.     

The Newtonian viscosity of polymer solutions: Scaling relationships

Scaling in terms of temperature, composition, and molecular weight variables has practical and fundamental significance. The viscosity of polymer solutions deviates from that predicted by the Huggins equation when the concentration is higher than a characteristic concentration c_ch. The value of c_ch depends on the molecular weight of the polymer and the thermodynamic conditions of the system. It is also a known fact that the deviations are due to the entanglements and interactions of polymer molecules. Therefore, we believe cch can be used as a concentration-reducing parameter to get the superposition curves. It can be shown that the concentration corresponding to a minimum value of η_sp/ch² (in the case of η_sp/c² vs concentration curves) is the value of c_ch of that system. Moreover, this c_ch is related to the intrinsic viscosity and molecular weight through the Huggins and Mark-Hauwink-Sakurada equations (c_ch = k′M^?a′). Using c_ch values for different systems and plotting log η_r versus C/C_ch, the superposition curves are obtained. In each case these curves are found to be linear, at least when concentrations approach zero. Master curves may be plotted by making use of the initial slopes of the curve (log η_r vs Bc/c_ch) and it is found that the data obtained at different thermodynamic conditions fit these (log η_r vs Bc/c_ch, B being the initial slope of log η vs c/c_ch) curves very well. The slopes are also compared to k′, a′, and the expansion coefficient of the system and the relationships are found to be linear. It is concluded that c_ch is a better parameter for the superposition of viscosity data, as well as being easy to obtain experimentally.     

Investigations on the structure of 4-methyldihydro-1,3,4-benzotriazepin-5-ones. Tautomer reassignment

The tautomerism of 4-methyldihydro-1,3,4-benzotriazepin-5-ones (2,3) is re-investigated by means of X-ray diffraction and quantum chemical calculations. The data revealed that the model compound (2a) exists in the amidrazone 1,4-dihydro tautomeric form (A), but not in the alternate 3,4-dihydro tautomer (B) as was previously reported.