Monomer activity measurement

This enantioselective mechanism is also in accordance with the elegant analysis and optical activity measurements by Pino et al.44,45 on the saturated propene oligomers obtained under suitable conditions with this kind of catalysts, proving that the re insertion of the monomer is favored in case of (R, R) chirality of coordination of the C2H4(1-Ind)2 ligand. 

The need -for a simple. universal method o-f measuring individual monomer activities in mixed micelle systems is the most pressing problem in this -field o-f research and deserves substantial attention. 

Devolatilization performance is usually measured against the equilibrium amount of volatile in the final polymer. The equilibrium level for the devolatilization conditions used can be calculated using a simplified Flory-Huggins equation for monomer activity in the polymer melt [6]. By equating the partial pressure of the monomer solution to the flash tank partial pressure, the following results ... 

An examination of reported reactivity ratios (Table 6) shows that the behaviour rj > 1, r2 1 or vice versa is a common feature of anionic copolymerization. Only in copolymerizations involving the monomers 1,1-diphenylethylene and stilbene, which cannot homopolymerize, do we find <1, r2 <1 [212—215], and hence the alternating tendency so characteristic of many free radical initiated copolymerizations. Normally one monomer is much more reactive to either type of active centre in the order acrylonitrile > methylmethacrylate > styrene > butadiene > isoprene. This is the order of electron affinities of the monomers as measured polarographically in polar solvents [216, 217]. In other words, the reactivity correlates well with the overall thermodynamic stability of the product. Variations of reactivity ratio occur with different solvents and counter-ions but the gross order is predictable. 

The precise experimental conditions for the measurements of chain lifetimes of polyethylene with the TiCl4/Al(i-Bu2 )H catalyst are not explicitly stated, but there is clear evidence for a steady increase in lifetime with polymerization time. For an average lifetime of 4 min after 40 min polymerization time, the instantaneous values were 4 min after 18 min polymerization and 10 min after 40 min polymerization. As the concentration of active centres remains almost steady after a sharp initial fall, the increase cannot be accounted for wholly by changes in the monomer/active sites ratio. The explanation may lie in a reduced rate of chain transfer with increase in conversion, as has been found for propene with a-TiClj/AlEt2 Cl [121]. In accord with this view average chain lifetimes of polypropene have been calculated to increase with conversion [123]. 

The protein reverse transcriptase (RT) is a viral protein essential for the propagation of retroviruses like HIV. RT is initially produced in the cell as a monomer , but quickly forms a homo-dimer , which is a complex of two RT-monomers. Only this homo-dimer is active, whereas RT monomers are not. Obviously there is a huge interest to find a potent drug against HIV and this can be done by investigating the kinetics of RT dimer formation. If one could stop the formation of RT-dimers then ftie virus could no longer replicate. To study the formation of RT dimers you use a concentration of 200 nM RT monomers and measure their concentration at certain time intervals ... 

One of the main criticisms of the phase-separation model is that it predicts that the activity of the monomers above the CMC remains constant. Dialysis [164], surface tension [165], and emf measurements [48,49,166,167], however, indicate a decrease in monomer activity above the CMC of ionic surfactants. 

Polymer (P) values Monomer (M) or model compound (MC) values Optical activity measured ... 

As shown above, the activity measured for the dendrimers was comparable or slightly higher than that of the monomers in many cases, but no general rules can be deduced concerning the efficiency of a dendritic catalyst. We have synthesized complexed iminophosphine derivatives, such as the monomeric palladium complex 4 and the first generation dendrimer 4-Gi. Comparison of their efficiency for various Stille couplings was really puzzling (Fig. 9.5). Measurements of the rate of conversion by NMR show that in some cases the monomer is more efficient than the dendrimer, in other cases they have the same efficiency, and in still other cases the dendrimer is more efficient. However, the real difference between the monomer 4 and the dendrimer 4-Gi is that the latter can be recovered and reused, but not the former [37]. 

Surface active electrolytes produce charged micelles whose effective charge can be measured by electrophoretic mobility [117,156]. The net charge is lower than the degree of aggregation, however, since some of the counterions remain associated with the micelle, presumably as part of a Stem layer (see Section V-3) [157]. Combination of self-diffusion with electrophoretic mobility measurements indicates that a typical micelle of a univalent surfactant contains about 1(X) monomer units and carries a net charge of 50-70. Additional colloidal characterization techniques are applicable to micelles such as ultrafiltration [158]. 

The tendency toward alternation is not the only pattern in terms of which copolymerization can be discussed. The activities of radicals and monomers may also be examined as a source of insight into copolymer formation. The reactivity of radical 1 copolymerizing with monomer 2 is measured by the rate constant kj2. The absolute value of this constant can be determined from copolymerization data (rj) and studies yielding absolute homopolymerization constants (ku) ... 

Problems arise with any of the abovementioned methods in the measurement of transfer constants for very active transfer agents. Bamford 8 proposed the technique of moderated copolymerization. In these experiments, the monomer of interest is copolymcrizcd with an excess of a moderating monomer that has a much lower (preferably negligible) transfer constant. The method has also been applied to evaluate penultimate unit effects on the transfer constant.28-j0... 

For very active transfer agents, the transfer agent-derived radical (T ) may partition between adding to monomer and reacting with the polymeric transfer agent (Pn 1) even at low conversions. The transfer constant measured according to the Mayo or related methods will appear to be dependent on the transfer agent concentration (and on the monomer conversion).40 2 A reverse transfer constant can be defined as follows (eq. 20) ... 

The above explanation of autoacceleration phenomena is supported by the manifold increase in the initial polymerization rate for methyl methacrylate which may be brought about by the addition of poly-(methyl methacrylate) or other polymers to the monomer.It finds further support in the suppression, or virtual elimination, of autoacceleration which has been observed when the molecular weight of the polymer is reduced by incorporating a chain transfer agent (see Sec. 2f), such as butyl mercaptan, with the monomer.Not only are the much shorter radical chains intrinsically more mobile, but the lower molecular weight of the polymer formed results in a viscosity at a given conversion which is lower by as much as several orders of magnitude. Both factors facilitate diffusion of the active centers and, hence, tend to eliminate the autoacceleration. Final and conclusive proof of the correctness of this explanation comes from measurements of the absolute values of individual rate constants (see p. 160), which show that the termination constant does indeed decrease a hundredfold or more in the autoacceleration phase of the polymerization, whereas kp remains constant within experimental error. 

---