Initiation backbones

There are three mechanisms for initial backbone cleavage that cascades into complete depolymerization (Fig. 107) [110,328] ... 

Fig. 7 Initial backbone curve for the modified Ibarra-Krawinkler model (Modified from Krawinkler et al. 2009)...

The simulation trajectory shown in Fig. 8b provides an explanation of how the force profile in Fig. 8a arises. During extension from 0 to 10 A the two /9-sheets slid away from each other, each maintaining a stable structure and its intra-sheet backbone hydrogen bonds. As the extension of the domain reached 14 A, the structure within each sheet began to break in one sheet, strands A and G slid peist each other, while in the other sheet, strands A and B slid past each other. The A -G and A-B backbone hydrogen bonds broke nearly simultaneously, producing the large initial force peak seen in Fig. 8a. 

Fig. 10. Conformational flooding accelerates conformational transitions and makes them accessible for MD simulations. Top left snapshots of the protein backbone of BPTI during a 500 ps-MD simulation. Bottom left a projection of the conformational coordinates contributing most to the atomic motions shows that, on that MD time scale, the system remains in its initial configuration (CS 1). Top right Conformational flooding forces the system into new conformations after crossing high energy barriers (CS 2, CS 3,. . . ). Bottom right The projection visualizes the new conformations they remain stable, even when the applied flooding potentials (dashed contour lines) is switched off.

Steric Factors. Initially, most of the coUisions of fluorine molecules with saturated or aromatic hydrocarbons occur at a hydrogen site or at a TT-bond (unsaturated) site. When coUision occurs at the TT-bond, the double bond disappears but the single bond remains because the energy released in initiation (eq. 4) is insufficient to fracture the carbon—carbon single bond. Once carbon—fluorine bonds have begun to form on the carbon skeleton of either an unsaturated or alkane system, the carbon skeleton is somewhat stericaUy protected by the sheath of fluorine atoms. Figure 2, which shows the crowded hehcal arrangement of fluorine around the carbon backbone of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), is an example of an extreme case of steric protection of carbon—carbon bonds (29). 

More recent work reports the onset of thermal degradation at lower temperatures and provides a clearer picture of the role of oxygen (73—75). In the presence of oxygen, backbone oxidation and subsequent cleavage reactions initiate decomposition. In the absence of oxygen, dehydrofluorination eventually occurs, but at significantly higher temperatures. 

Other common radical-initiated polymer processes include curing of resins, eg, unsaturated polyester—styrene blends curing of mbber grafting of vinyl monomers onto polymer backbones and telomerizations. 

Heteroatom Chain Backbone Polymers. This class of polymers includes polyesters, which have been widely studied from the initial period of research on biodegradable polymers, polyamides, polyethers, polyacetals, and other condensation polymers. Their linkages are quite frequendy found in nature and these polymers are more likely to biodegrade than hydrocarbon-based polymers. 

Although soaps have many physical properties in common with the broader class of surfactants, they also have several distinguishing factors. First, soaps are most often derived direcdy from natural sources of fats and oils (see Fats and fatty oils). Fats and oils are triglycerides, ie, molecules comprised of a glycerol backbone and three ester-linked fatty oils. Other synthetic surfactants may use fats and oils or petrochemicals as initial building blocks, but generally require additional chemical manipulations such as sulfonation, esterification, sulfation, and amidation. 

Etherification and esterification of hydroxyl groups produce derivatives, some of which are produced commercially. Derivatives may also be obtained by graft polymerization wherein free radicals, initiated on the starch backbone by ceric ion or irradiation, react with monomers such as vinyl or acrylyl derivatives. A number of such copolymers have been prepared and evaluated in extmsion processing (49). A starch—acrylonitrile graft copolymer has been patented (50) which rapidly absorbs many hundred times its weight in water and has potential appHcations in disposable diapers and medical suppHes. 

A waterborne system for container coatings was developed based on a graft copolymerization of an advanced epoxy resin and an acryHc (52). The acryhc-vinyl monomers are grafted onto preformed epoxy resins in the presence of a free-radical initiator grafting occurs mainly at the methylene group of the aHphatic backbone on the epoxy resin. The polymeric product is a mixture of methacrylic acid—styrene copolymer, soHd epoxy resin, and graft copolymer of the unsaturated monomers onto the epoxy resin backbone. It is dispersible in water upon neutralization with an amine before cure with an amino—formaldehyde resin. 

Eigure 3 represents an illustrative biological application an Asp Asn mutation, carried out either in solution or in complex with a protein [25,26]. The calculation uses a hybrid amino acid with both an Asp and an Asn side chain. Eor convenience, we divide the system into subsystems or blocks [27] Block 1 contains the ligand backbone as well as the solvent and protein (if present) block 2 is the Asp moiety of the hybrid ligand side chain block 3 is the Asn moiety. We effect the mutation by making the Asn side chain gradually appear and the Asp side chain simultaneously disappear. We choose initially the hybrid potential energy function to have the form... 

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