Polymerization irreversible

The simplest systems involve copolymerization of structurally related pairs of comonomers, polymerizing irreversibly. Copolymerization of different oxetanes [294], thietanes [295], azetidines [296], and oxazolines [297] was studied, the results were interpreted in terms of simple four-parameter copolymerization scheme and the corresponding reactivity ratios for some systems were determined. 

Chain Termination (in chain polymerization)—irreversible chain deactivation or termination/ chemical reaction in which a chain carrier is converted irreversibly into a non-propagating species without the formation of a new chain carrier. 

The C-C linkage in tire polymeric [60]fullerene composite is highly unstable and, in turn, tire reversible [2+2] phototransfonnation leads to an almost quantitative recovery of tire crystalline fullerene. In contrast tire similarly conducted illumination of [70]fullerene films results in an irreversible and randomly occurring photodimerization. The important aspect which underlines tire markedly different reactivity of tire [60]fullerene polymer material relative to, for example, tire analogous [36]fullerene composites, is tire reversible transfomration of tire fomrer back to the initial fee phase. 

The most common oxidation state of niobium is +5, although many anhydrous compounds have been made with lower oxidation states, notably +4 and +3, and Nb can be reduced in aqueous solution to Nb by zinc. The aqueous chemistry primarily involves halo- and organic acid anionic complexes. Virtually no cationic chemistry exists because of the irreversible hydrolysis of the cation in dilute solutions. Metal—metal bonding is common. Extensive polymeric anions form. Niobium resembles tantalum and titanium in its chemistry, and separation from these elements is difficult. In the soHd state, niobium has the same atomic radius as tantalum and essentially the same ionic radius as well, ie, Nb Ta = 68 pm. This is the same size as Ti ... 

The polymerizations of tetrahydrofuran [1693-74-9] (THF) and of oxetane [503-30-0] (OX) are classic examples of cationic ring-opening polymerizations. Under ideal conditions, the polymerization of the five-membered tetrahydrofuran ring is a reversible equiUbtium polymerization, whereas the polymerization of the strained four-membered oxetane ring is irreversible (1,2). 

The four-membered oxetane ring (trimethylene oxide [503-30-0]) has much higher ring strain, and irreversible ring-opening polymerization can occur rapidly to form polyoxetane [25722-06-9] ... 

The subject of thermochromism in organic and polymeric compounds has been reviewed in some depth previously (8,16,18), and these expansive overviews should be used by readers with deeper and more particular interest in the subject. Many more examples can be found in the reviews that further illustrate the pattern of association between thermochromism and molecular restmcturing of one kind or another. The specific assignment of stmctures is still Open to debate in many cases, and there are still not many actual commercial uses for these or any of the other thermally reversible materials discussed herein. Temperature indicators have been mentioned, though perhaps as much or more for irreversible materials. 

Traditional rubbers are shaped in a manner akin to that of common thermoplastics. Subsequent to the shaping operations chemical reactions are brought about that lead to the formation of a polymeric network structure. Whilst the polymer molecular segments between the network junction points are mobile and can thus deform considerably, on application of a stress irreversible flow is prevented by the network structure and on release of the stress the molecules return to a random coiled configuration with no net change in the mean position of the Junction points. The polymer is thus rubbery. With all the major rubbers the... 

Since the optical transitions near the HOMO-LUMO gap are symmetry-forbidden for electric dipole transitions, and their absorption strengths are consequently very low, study of the absorption edge in Ceo is difficult from both an experimental and theoretical standpoint. To add to this difficulty, Ceo is strongly photosensitive, so that unless measurements arc made under low light intensities, photo-induced chemical reactions take place, in some cases giving rise to irreversible structural changes and polymerization of the... 

Another metathesis polymerization procedure uses terminal dienes such as hexa-1,5-diene (16) (acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET)). Here again, the escape of the gaseous reaction product, i.e. ethylene, ensures the irreversible progress of the reaction ... 

The protein recovery was found to be 95% of the amount injected, whereas, on the untreated carrier they were almost totally irreversibly adsorbed. Meanwhile, some reduction in the pore volume of the carrier could be deduced from the results of the chromatographic test. The calculated pore volume available for phtalic acid was 0.67 cm2/g (V) whereas for cytochrome C — 0.5 cm2/g. A detailed description of the experiment allows the evaluation of the effective thickness (teff) of the polymeric stationary phase. The tcff calculated as V/Ssp is 2.3 nm. The value... 

It remains a common misconception that radical-radical termination is suppressed in processes such as NMP or ATRP. Another issue, in many people s minds, is whether processes that involve an irreversible termination step, even as a minor side reaction, should be called living. Living radical polymerization appears to be an oxymoron and the heading to this section a contradiction in terms (Section 9.1.1). In any processes that involve propagating radicals, there will be a finite rate of termination commensurate with the concentration of propagating radicals and the reaction conditions. The processes that fall under the heading of living or controlled radical polymerization (e.g. NMP, ATRP, RAFT) provide no exceptions. 

Propagation reactions in radical polymerization and copolymerization arc generally highly exothermic and can be assumed to be irreversible. Exceptions to this general rule arc those involving monomers with low ceiling temperatures (Section 4.5.1). The thermodynamics of copolymerization has been reviewed by Sawada.85... 

Since the dithiocarbatnyl end groups 8 are thermally stable but pholochemically labile at usual polymerization temperatures, only photo-initiated polymerizations have the potential to show living characteristics. However, various disulfides, for example, 9 and 10, have been used to prepare end-functional polymers37 and block copolymers38 by irreversible chain transfer in non-living thermally-initiated polymerization (Section 7.5.1). 

Tethering may be a reversible or an irreversible process. Irreversible grafting is typically accomplished by chemical bonding. The number of grafted chains is controlled by the number of grafting sites and their functionality, and then ultimately by the extent of the chemical reaction. The reaction kinetics may reflect the potential barrier confronting reactive chains which try to penetrate the tethered layer. Reversible grafting is accomplished via the self-assembly of polymeric surfactants and end-functionalized polymers [59]. In this case, the surface density and all other characteristic dimensions of the structure are controlled by thermodynamic equilibrium, albeit with possible kinetic effects. In this instance, the equilibrium condition involves the penalties due to the deformation of tethered chains. 

The present review shows how the microhardness technique can be used to elucidate the dependence of a variety of local deformational processes upon polymer texture and morphology. Microhardness is a rather elusive quantity, that is really a combination of other mechanical properties. It is most suitably defined in terms of the pyramid indentation test. Hardness is primarily taken as a measure of the irreversible deformation mechanisms which characterize a polymeric material, though it also involves elastic and time dependent effects which depend on microstructural details. In isotropic lamellar polymers a hardness depression from ideal values, due to the finite crystal thickness, occurs. The interlamellar non-crystalline layer introduces an additional weak component which contributes further to a lowering of the hardness value. Annealing effects and chemical etching are shown to produce, on the contrary, a significant hardening of the material. The prevalent mechanisms for plastic deformation are proposed. Anisotropy behaviour for several oriented materials is critically discussed. 

The hydrolysis of Pu+lt can result in the formation of polymers which are rather intractable to reversal to simpler species. Generally such polymerization requires [Pu] > 10-8 M but, due to the irreversibility, dilution of more concentrated hydrolysis solutions below this value would not destroy the polymers. The rate of polymerization has been found to be third order in Pu concentrations and has a value of 5.4 X 10-5 moles/hr at 50°C and [Pu+I ]T t 0.006 M, [HNO3] s o.25 M (13). Soon after formation, such polymers can be decomposed readily to simple species in solution by acidification or by oxidation to Pu(Vl). However, as the polymers age, the decomposition process requires increasingly rigorous treatment. The rate of such irreversible aging varies with temperature, Pu(IV) concentration, the nature of... 

Polymerization equilibria frequently observed in the polymerization of cyclic monomers may become important in copolymerization systems. The four propagation reactions assumed to be irreversible in the derivation of the Mayo-Lewis equation must be modified to include reversible processes. Lowry114,11S first derived a copolymer composition equation for the case in which some of the propagation reactions are reversible and it was applied to ring-opening copalymerization systems1 16, m. In the case of equilibrium copolymerization with complete reversibility, the following reactions must be considered. 

The seeding procedure is described in Fig. 20 by the line abed. Its inspection shows that the concentration of the monomer left at the time when all the initiator is consumed remains the same whether the monomer is added at once or in two portions. Moreover, the total concentration of the added monomer must exceed a critical value to allow for quantitative consumption of the initiator. Thus, the seeding technique does not eliminate the broadening of molecular weight distribution caused by slow initiation of a virtually irreversible polymerization. This conclusion is confirmed experimentally 133). 

Alkyl aluminium halides are used in many ways as coinitiators for the cationic polymerization. Due to presence of alkyl groups, which have the characteristics of potential carbanions, the alkyl aluminium halides and the counterions formed from them cause the following irreversible competing reactions whereby hydrocarbons are released — Termination by interaction of the cation with the alkyl group of the counterion, e-g-... 

The first is diffusion capture. This theory was originally proposed by Fitch and Tsai (13) for the aqueous polymerization of methyl methacrylate. According to this theory, any oligomer which diffuses to an existing particle before it has attained the critical size for nucleation is irreversibly captured. The rate of nucleation is equal to the rate of initiation minus the rate of capture. The rate of capture is proportional to both the surface area and the number of particles. 

On the basis of experimental findings Heinze et al. propose the formation of a particularly stable, previously unknown tertiary structure between the charged chain segments and the solvated counterions in the polymer during galvanostatic or potentiostatic polymerization. During the discharging scan this structure is irreversibly altered. The absence of typical capacitive currents for the oxidized polymer film leads them to surmise that the postulated double layer effects are considerably smaller than previously assumed and that the broad current plateau is caused at least in part by faradaic redox processes. 

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