Hydrolysis of urethanes

After extraction, the urethanated films were subjected to alkaline hydrolysis of urethanes to liberate the corresponding amines, while the adipoylated films were hydrolyzed after having reacted with 7-hydroxycoumarin. Amounts of the released amines and coumarin were determined by fluorescence spectroscopy as described in the Experimental section. Since aniline as well as butylamine has no appreciable fluorescence by themselves, their fluorescence assay was made after reacting with o-phthalaldehyde in the presence of mercaptoethanol. In Figure 3, where relative fluorescence intensities are plotted as a function of concentrations of amines and hydroxycoumarin, one can see that the fluorescence intensities vary linearly with their concentration to permit us the quantitative determination of extremely small amounts of amines and hydroxycoumarin. 

Hydrolysis of urethane linkages is catalyzed most effectively by base rather than acid ( ). In uncatalyzed formulations the measured rate of hydrolysis is slow (14). Less than 10% of the crosslinks are hydrolyzed after 2000 hours of exposure to condensing humidity at 50 C (Figure 3). The measured activation energy for urethane hydrolysis is around 20 kcal/mole ( ). Using these data it can be concluded that for uncatalyzed formulations hydrolysis is negligible during normal service life. 

Let us now consider the retarding action of proteolytic enzymes on hydrolysis. Attention should be drawn to the fact that the carbonyl absorption band splits into two parts as a result of interaction of the cured KL-3 with proteolytic enzymes and kidney extract. Evidently it is associated with the specific interaction of the enzyme and urethane group in the polymer, the structure of which resembles the peptide group of a protein molecule. Owing to the specific action of the enzyme, this interaction does not accelerate the hydrolysis of urethane groups but even retards it owing to the shielding effect of the enzyme protein molecule. 

The pendant methyl ester group in LDI was rapidly hydrolysed, followed by slow hydrolysis of urethane bonds in the backbone chain, while the susceptibility of urea bonds to papain was very low. 

Alkaline hydrolysis of urethans has been conducted in aqueous and in alcoholic solution, mid with either... 

Almost all IDA derived chain extenders are made through ortho-alkylation. Diethyltoluenediamine (DE I DA) (C H gN2) (53), with a market of about 33,000 t, is the most common. Many uses for /-B I DA have been cited (1,12). Both DE I DA and /-B I DA are especially useful in RIM appHcations (49,53—55). Di(methylthio)-TDA, made by dithioalkylation of TDA, is used in cast urethanes and with other TDI prepolymers (56). Styrenic alkylation products of TDA are said to be useful, eg, as in the formation of novel polyurethane—polyurea polymers (57,58). Progress in understanding aromatic diamine stmcture—activity relationships for polyurethane chain extenders should allow progress in developing new materials (59). Chlorinated IDA is used in polyurethane—polyurea polymers of low hysteresis (48) and in reinforced polyurethane tires (60). The chloro-TDA is made by hydrolysis of chloro-TDI, derived from TDA (61). 

There appear to be conflicting reports regarding the degradation of urethanes. For example, some urethanes are reported to have relatively poor hydrolysis resistance and good biodegradability [77], while other urethanes are reported to be so hydrolytically stable that they have been successfully used as an artificial heart [78]. Both reports are correct. It will be shown that the thermal, oxidative, and hydrolytic stability of urethanes can be controlled, to some degree, by the choice of raw materials used to make the urethane. 

As previously mentioned, some urethanes can biodegrade easily by hydrolysis, while others are very resistant to hydrolysis. The purpose of this section is to provide some guidelines to aid the scientist in designing the desired hydrolytic stability of the urethane adhesive. For hydrolysis of a urethane to occur, water must diffuse into the bulk polymer, followed by hydrolysis of the weak link within the urethane adhesive. The two most common sites of attack are the urethane soft segment (polyol) and/or the urethane linkages. Urethanes made from PPG polyols, PTMEG, and poly(butadiene) polyols all have a backbone inherently resistant to hydrolysis. They are usually the first choice for adhesives that will be exposed to moisture. Polyester polyols and polycarbonates may be prone to hydrolytic attack, but this problem can be controlled to some degree by the proper choice of polyol. 

Schollenberger and Stewart studied the hydrolysis of various polyester urethanes by immersing the materials in water at 70°C for several weeks and measuring the tensile properties. The data are shown in Table 6 [89]. The urethane... 

Schollenberger added 2% of a polycarbodiimide additive to the same poly(tetra-methylene adipate) urethane with the high level of acid (AN = 3.66). After 9 weeks of 70°C water immersion, the urethane was reported to retain 84% of its original strength. Carbodiimides react quickly with residual acid to form an acyl urea, removing the acid catalysis contributing to the hydrolysis. New carbodiimides have been developed to prevent hydrolysis of polyester thermoplastics. Carbodiimides are also reported to react with residual water, which may contribute to hydrolysis when the urethane is exposed to high temperatures in an extruder [90]. 

The Cunius degradation of acyl azides prepared either by treatment of acyl halides with sodium azide or trimethylsilyl azide [47] or by treatment of acyl hydrazides with nitrous acid [f J yields pnmarily alkyl isocyanates, which can be isolated when the reaction is earned out in aptotic solvents If alcohols are used as solvents, urethanes are formed Hydrolysis of the isocyanates and the urethanes yields primary amines. 

Early attempts to prepare 5-amino- and 5-acylaminobenzofuroxans by hypochlorite oxidation of the corresponding o-nitroanilines met with failure. Pyrolysis of the appropriate azide, however, gives 5-dimetliylamino- and 5-acetamidobenzofuroxan, whereas urethans of type (33) are produced by Curtius degradation of the 5-carboxylic acid. Controlled hydrolysis of the acetamido compound and the... 

The above procedure describes the only known preparation of the inner salt of methyl (carboxysulfamoyl)triethylammonium hydroxide and illustrates the use of this reagent to convert a primary alcohol to the corresponding urethane.2 Hydrolysis of the urethane would then provide the primary amine. The method is limited to primary alcohols secondary and tertiary alcohols are dehydrated to olefins under these conditions, often in synthetically useful yields.2... 

Apart from the Important reaction leading to the formation of urethane groups, carbon dioxide can be released during curing by hydrolysis of the Isocyanate group, leading to the formation of urea groups (10). 

According to the literature (6) the formation of urea from amine and isocyanate proceeds much faster than the formation of urethane or the hydrolysis of Isocyanate. 

The formation of Intermediate compounds (e.g. carbamlc acid) Is not described in the model. So, the formation of urethane (reaction 1) and the hydrolysis of the isocyanate (reaction 2) are the rate-determining steps. 

Curtius usually decomposed the azides in alcohol, which at once explains the formation of urethanes these, by vigorous hydrolysis, decompose into primary amine, C02, and alcohol. 

Figure 3. Hydrolysis of pendant urethane groups as a function of medium. Pendant —NHCOO— substrate cellulose (A) basic medium (pH — 11.3) m acidic medium (pH = 3.1) (9) deionized HsO (pH = 7.0)...

Although excellent yields of the unsaturated amides and urethans could be obtained, hydrolysis of the urethans gave poor yields of the aldehyde. The application of the Curtius degradation resulted in excellent yields of the various intermediates and a fair yield of the aldehyde. It appears that the presence of the heterocyclic moiety renders these aldehydes less stable than the corresponding aldehydes in the benzene series. Possibly the electron rich thiophene ring bestows a higher reactivity on the hydrogen atoms of the methylene carbon. 

The in vivo metabolism of a homologous series of alkyl carbamates (7.2, Fig. 7.3) has yielded some informative results [13]. The hydrolysis of these esters liberates carbamic acid (7.3, Fig. 7.3), which breaks down spontaneously to C02 and NH3, allowing the extent of hydrolysis to be determined conveniently and specifically by monitoring C02 production. When such substrates were administered to rats, there was an inverse relationship between side-chain hydroxylation and ester-bond hydrolysis. Thus, for compounds 12 the contribution of hydrolysis to total metabolism (90 - 95% of dose) decreased in the series R=Et (ca. 85-90%), Bu (ca. 60-65%), hexyl (ca. 45 - 50%), and octyl (ca. 30%). Ethyl carbamate (urethane) is of particular toxicological interest, being a well-established carcinogen in experimental animals. In vitro studies of adduct formation have confirmed the competition between oxidative toxification mediated by CYP2E1 and hydrolytic detoxification mediated by carboxylesterases [14]. 

In a specific example of adhesive bonds between cold rolled steel and SMC adherends (Table II) an adhesive based on hydrolysis resistant epoxy chemistry (i.e., adhesive E) was compared with an adhesive based on hydrolysis prone urethane chemistry (i.e., adhesive C) in composite to cold rolled steel bonds. After corrosion testing, a significant difference in both retention of initial bond strength and locus of failure was observed. For bonds prepared with adhesive E, little if any reduction of the initial bond strength was observed after corrosion testing. The locus of failure for both the tested and untested bonds was largely in the... 

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