Chain initiator

An interesting situation is obtained when the catalyst-solvent system is such that the initiator is essentially 100% dissociated before monomer is added and no termination or transfer reactions occur. In this case all chain initiation occurs rapidly when monomer is added, since no time-dependent initiator breakdown is required. If the initial concentration of catalyst is [AB]o,then chain growth starts simultaneously at [B"]q centers per unit volume. The rate of polymerization is given by the analog of Eq. (6.24) ... 

Some details of the chain-initiation step have been elucidated. With an oxygen radical-initiator such as the /-butoxyl radical, both double bond addition and hydrogen abstraction are observed. Hydrogen abstraction is observed at the ester alkyl group of methyl acrylate. Double bond addition occurs in both a head-to-head and a head-to-tail manner (80). 

Some details of the chain-initiation step have been elucidated. With an oxygen radical—initiator such as the /-butoxyl radical, both double bond... 

Fig. 2. Main steps of reaction kinetics, where chain initiation is identical to other vinyl polymerizations.

Chemical initiation generates organic radicals, usually by decomposition of a2o (11) or peroxide compounds (12), to form radicals which then react with chlorine to initiate the radical-chain chlorination reaction (see Initiators). Chlorination of methane yields all four possible chlorinated derivatives methyl chloride, methylene chloride, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride (13). The reaction proceeds by a radical-chain mechanism, as shown in equations 1 through. Chain initiation... 

A further feature of anionic polymerisation is that, under very carefully controlled eonditions, it may be possible to produee a polymer sample which is virtually monodisperse, i.e. the molecules are all of the same size. This is in contrast to free-radical polymerisations which, because of the randomness of both chain initiation and termination, yield polymers with a wide molecular size distribution, i.e. they are said to be polydisperse. In order to produce monodisperse polymers it is necessary that the following requirements be met ... 

In the absence of added radical generators the relatively unstable hydroperoxides, which are themselves generated by the oxidation process, are the major source of chain initiating radicals. 

Materials that promote the decomposition of organic hydroperoxide to form stable products rather than chain-initiating free radicals are known as peroxide decomposers. Amongst the materials that function in this way may be included a number of mercaptans, sulphonic acids, zinc dialkylthiophosphate and zinc dimethyldithiocarbamate. There is also evidence that some of the phenol and aryl amine chain-breaking antioxidants may function in addition by this mechanism. In saturated hydrocarbon polymers diauryl thiodipropionate has achieved a preeminent position as a peroxide decomposer. 

The fimction of an antioxidant is to divert the peroxy radicals and thus prevent a chain process. Other antioxidants fimction by reacting with potential initiators and thus retard oxidative degradation by preventing the initiation of autoxidation chains. The hydroperoxides generated by autoxidation are themselves potential chain initiators, and autoxidations therefore have the potential of being autocatalytic. Certain antioxidants fimction by reducing such hydroperoxides and thereby preventing their accumulation. 

The ripple experiment works as follows In Fig. 6, HDH and DHD are depicted by open and filled circles where the filled circles represent the deuterium labeled portions of the molecule and the open circles are the normal (protonated) portions of the chains. Initially, the average concentration vs. depth of the labeled portions of the molecules is 0.5, as seen along the normal to the interface, unless chain-end segregation exists at / = 0. If the chains reptate, the chain ends diffuse across the interface before the chain centers. This will lead to a ripple or an excess of deuterium on the HDH side and a depletion on the DHD side of the interface as indicated in the concentration profile shown at the right in Fig. 6. However, when the molecules have diffused distances comparable to Rg, the ripple will vanish and a constant concentration profile at 0.5 will again be found. 

In practice the picture can take on a further degree of complexity if there is chain branching. This is where a secondary chain initiates from some point along the main chain as shown in Fig. A.6. In rubbers and thermosetting materials these branches link up to other chains to form a three dimensional network. 

H2 and H2O2 [64]. The three primary radical species react with monomers to give radicals derived from monomers [63]. All these generated radicals are available to contribute to the chain initiation. This increases the exponent of the monomer concentration in these systems. 

It is commonly found that polymers are less stable particularly to molecular breakdown at elevated temperatures than low molecular weight materials containing similar groupings. In part this may be due to the constant repetition of groups along a chain as discussed above, but more frequently it is due to the presence of weak links along the chain. These may be at the end of the chain (terminal) arising from specific mechanisms of chain initiation and/or termination, or non-terminal and due to such factors as impurities which becomes built into the chain, a momentary aberration in the modus operandi of the polymerisation process, or perhaps, to branch points. 

XXVII) at the 4, 5, and 6 positions respectively (these being all beta to the side chain), initial rates (lO7 ) at 50 °C were 400, 480, and 380, which are each about... 

Variable valence transition metal ions, such as Co VCo and Mn /Mn are able to catalyze hydrocarbon autoxidations by increasing the rate of chain initiation. Thus, redox reactions of the metal ions with alkyl hydroperoxides produce chain initiating alkoxy and alkylperoxy radicals (Fig. 6). Interestingly, aromatic percarboxylic acids, which are key intermediates in the oxidation of methylaromatics, were shown by Jones (ref. 10) to oxidize Mn and Co, to the corresponding p-oxodimer of Mn or Co , via a heterolytic mechanism (Fig. 6). 

In the above reactions, I signifies an initiator molecule, Rq the chain-initiating species, M a monomer molecule, R, a radical of chain length n, Pn a polymer molecule of chain length n, and f the initiator efficiency. The usual approximations for long chains and radical quasi-steady state (rate of initiation equals rate of termination) (2-6) are applied. Also applied is the assumption that the initiation step is much faster than initiator decomposition. ,1) With these assumptions, the monomer mass balance for a batch reactor is given by the following differential equation. 

Deming TJ, Curtin SA (2000) Chain initiation efficiency in cobalt- and nickel-mediated polypeptide synthesis. J Am Chem Soc 122 5710-5717... 

Template binding RNA polymerase (RNAP) binds to DNA and locates a promoter (P) melts the two DNA strands to form a preinitiation complex (PIQ. (2) Chain initiation RNAP holoenzyme (core + one of multiple sigma factors) catalyzes the coupling of the first base (usually ATP or GTP) to a second ribonucleoside triphosphate to form a dinucleotide. (3) Chain elongation Successive residues are added to the 3 -OH terminus of the nascent RNA molecule. (4) Chain termination and release The completed RNA chain and RNAP are released from the template. The RNAP holoenzyme re-forms, finds a promoter, and the cycle is repeated. 

Phosphorylation of Myosin Light Chains Initiates Contraction of Smooth Muscle... 

When smooth muscle myosin is bound to F-actin in the absence of other muscle proteins such as tropomyosin, there is no detectable ATPase activity. This absence of activity is quite unlike the situation described for striated muscle myosin and F-actin, which has abundant ATPase activity. Smooth muscle myosin contains fight chains that prevent the binding of the myosin head to F-actin they must be phosphorylated before they allow F-actin to activate myosin ATPase. The ATPase activity then attained hydrolyzes ATP about tenfold more slowly than the corresponding activity in skeletal muscle. The phosphate on the myosin fight chains may form a chelate with the Ca bound to the tropomyosin-TpC-actin complex, leading to an increased rate of formation of cross-bridges between the myosin heads and actin. The phosphorylation of fight chains initiates the attachment-detachment contraction cycle of smooth muscle. 

Smooth muscle, unfike skeletal and cardiac muscle, does not contain the troponin system instead, phosphorylation of myosin fight chains initiates contraction. 

Chain initiation is due to reaction (61), i.e. the thermal decomposition of peroxydisulphate into sulphate radicals, viz. 

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