Important Green Chemistry and Catalysis： Non-phosgene Syntheses of Isocyanates - Thermal Cracking Way

Currently, industrial production of isocyanates, or diisocyanates in particular, has been exclusively based on phosgene processes. Phosgene is extremely toxic and large amounts of corrosive HC1 are produced as a side product. In the view of environment protection and society safety, development of non-phosgene processes for isocyanates production will be highly desired, and this should be one of the most important missions for green chemistry and catalysis. In this review, efforts for development of non-phosgene method for syntheses of isocyanates, i.e., catalytic syntheses of N-substituted carbamates from nitro- or amino-compounds with CO, dimethyl carbonate （DMC）, urea and even CO2 etc. as carbonyl sources, then thermal cracking of N-substituted carbamates to afford corresponding i socyanates, are summarized, and a brief prospect for non-phosgene syntheses of isocyanates is also addressed.

Room temperature polymerization of alkyl isocyanates catalyzed by rare earth Schiff base complexes

The polymerization of alkyl isocyanates catalyzed by rare earth chloride salen complexes/triisobutyl aluminum (Ln(H2salen)2Cl3·2C2H7OH/Al(i-Bu)3) at room temperature was investigated. The influences of ligand structure, catalyst composition, polymerization temperature, polymerization time, the concentration of catalyst and monomer, and the polymerization solvent on the polymerization of isocyanates were studied. It was found that under the polymerization conditions, examined La(H2salenA)2Cl3·2C2-H7OH/Al(i-Bu)3 (H2salenA= N,N′-disalicylideneethylene diamine) is a fairly high efficient catalyst for the polymerization of n-hexyl isocyanate (n-HexNCO) to prepare high molecular weight poly(n-hexyl isocyanate) (PHNCO) with narrower molecular weight distribution at room temperature. PHNCO could be prepared with yield of 74.0%, number-average molecular weight (M n) of 40.20×104 and MWD of 1.79 under the following optimum conditions: [Al]/[La] = 30 (molar ratio), [n-HexNCO]/[La] = 100 (molar ratio), [n-HexNCO] = 3.43 mol/L polymerization at 20°C for 12 h in toluene. In the same polymerization conditions, poly (n-octyl isocyanate) (PONCO) with yield of 67.3%, and poly(n-butyl isocyanate) (PBNCO) with yield of 45.5%, could be prepared respectively. The kinetics of the polymerization of n-HexNCO was also investigated and found to be first-order with respect to both monomer and catalyst concentrations.

Regioselective addtion of 5-amino-3-benzylthio-l,2,4-triazole and its analogues with aryl isocyanates

The orientation of the addition of 5-amino-3-benzylthio-1,2,4-triazole and its analogues (pyrazole) (1) with the aryl isocyanate can be directed by controlling the reaction temperature and one of the product, 5-amino-1-arylaminocarbonyl-3-benzylthio-1,2,4-triazole (pyrazole) (2), can rearrange at 170C to another product, 5-arylureylene-3-benzylthio-1,2,4-triazole (pyrazole) (3). A plausible mechanism explanation for this rearrangement reaction was presented. It was suggested that the rearrangement reaction could be referred to the thermodynamics transposition leading to the predominant 5-arylureylene-3-benzylthio-1,2,4-triazole energy preferentially.

Studies on the reaction of 3-substituted-4-hydroxy-2H-1,2-benzothiazine 1,1-dioxides with aryl isocyanates and the synthesis of corresponding derivatives

The reaction of 3-substituted-4-hydroxy-2H-1,2-benzothiazine 1,1-dioxides with aryl isocyanate under different equivalents of strong base NaH was studied. Seventeen of new derivatives were obtained whose structures were characterized by H-1 NMR, IR, MS, elementary analysis and FeCl3 test.

A discussion on producing agro-residue composites with isocyanate resins

With the urgent shortage of forest resource in China, using agro-residues as raw materials of composite become increasingly important. Agro-residue is the most potential fiber resource, which is helpful to sustainable development of composite industries in China. Based on a great deal of researches, this paper summarized and discussed some problems in using agro-residues as raw materials of composites, including raw material preparation, hot-pressing, bonding technology, preventing composite from going moldy. It is proposed that to manufacture the composite of rice straws or wheat straws, the isocayante resin is a suitable adhesive, and the appropriate technologies, bonding, and treatment measures are also needed.

Urethane Modified Hydrophobic Compact Wood Pulp Paper for Oil Spill Cleanup: A Preliminary Study

Oil spills and oil/water wastewater are among the great concerns regarding oil pollution.Existing technologies face many limitations and in some cases are responsible for causing secondary pollution,therefore there is as seek for environmental friendly solutions.Biomass,from which celluloses are highlighted,are being employed for oil/water separation or oil absorbents membranes.Usually,these membranes are obtained by freeze drying of CNF(cellulose nano-fibrils)suspensions followed by chemical modification for hydrophobization,which involves expensive process as chemical vapor deposition and expensive reactants as sylanes,turning these processes hardly scalable.Here,we produced a natural porous structure paper from eucalyptus pulp fibers modified by a dipping and heating process in a blocked diisocyanate solution.After the surface treatment,contact angle with water reached 144°and water absorption reduced seven times,keeping the good oil absorbance.The chemical modification process is simple to be performed and use a very low quantity of reactant estimated to be less than 0.1 wt%based on cellulose.The good mechanical properties of the material allows its use in non usual conditions which can be of great importance depending on the environmental conditions.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Homopiperazine Derivatives as Anticancer Agents

In search of new anticancer agents, a series of novel 1-benzhydryl-4-(substituted phenylcarboxamide / carbothioamide)-1,4-diazepane derivatives were designed, synthesized and characterized using 1H NMR, LCMS and elemental analysis. These molecules were evaluated for their anti-cancer activity by trypan blue exclusion and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay on B-cell leukemic cell line, Reh. Carboxamide moiety containing derivatives showed good activity compared to the corresponding carbothioamide derivatives. In particular, 4-benzhydryl-N-(3-chlorophenyl)-1,4-diazepane-1-carboxamide showed good activity with IC50 value of 18 μM.

Imaging Isocyanic Acid Photodissociation at 193 nm:the NH(a^1△)+CO(X^1∑^+)Channel

The photodissociation dynamics of isocyanic acid （HNCO） has been studied by the time- sliced velocity map ion imaging technique at 193 nm. The NH（a1△） products were measured via （2＋1） resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization. Images have been accumulated for the NH（a1△） rotational states in the ground and vibrational excited state （v=0 and 1）. The center-of-mass translational energy distribution derived from the NH（a1△） images implies that the CO vibrational distributions are inverted for most of the measured 1NH（v｜j） internal states. The anisotropic product angular distribution observed indicates a rapid dissociation process for the N-C bond cleavage. A bimodal rotational state distribution of CO（v） has been observed, this result implies that isocyanic acid dissociates in the S1 state in two different pathways.

Facile Synthesis of Ureas in Ionic Liquid

The reaction of isocyanates with aliphatic and aromatic amines in the 1-n-butyl-3- methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (bmimBF4) ionic liquid in good to excellent yields is described. Due to its insolubility, the desired urea solids could be recovered by simple filtration from the ionic liquid after reaction.

Comparative Efficacy of Polyamine-Based Scavenger Resins

Polyamine-based scavenger resins containing 2, 3 and 4 nitrogen atoms have been prepared and their comparative efficacy to scavenge appropriate electrophilic chemicals (acids, acid chlorides, isocyanates and aldehydes) from solutions has been studied. As expected, the scavenging efficiency is directly proportional to the number of nucleophic nitrogens present on the resin. The results have been compared with the performance of the popular scavenger resin, namely, tris(2-aminoethyl)amine resin, to conclude that the low-cost polyamine resins now prepared can be conveniently used as effectively as the expensive commercial product.

Ways of Analysis of Fire Effluents and Assessment of Toxic Hazards

Fire effluents, in most cases, have an adverse effect on human health and the environment. Exposure to some compounds may show both acute and chronic toxicity. There is a lack of knowledge on the effect of organic products on the human body in terms of the rate of organic material production in fires and their degree of toxicity. Thus, there is a need to expand the scope of studies about the organic products generated from fires and improve the methods of assessment to be included as part of fire hazard assessment. Different factors can be contributed to this lack of knowledge. For example, the composition of organic products generated from fires changes progressively and rapidly with progression of combustion and in a manner that is dependent on the fire condition. It is difficult to identify individual organic compounds produced during combustion. Another key factor is the lack of suitable instruments for measuring organic products generated from a fire. Also, the lack of procedures that are used to evaluate the lethal concentration limits and the lethal dose for a broad range of organic compounds generated from a fire may be another important factor which can be contributed to this lack of knowledge.

Effect of SO_2 on the performance of Ag-Pd/Al_2O_3 for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with C_2H_5OH

The influence of SO2 on the performance of Ag-Pd/Al2O3 for the selective catalytic reduction （SCR） of NOx with C2H5OH was investigated experimentally. The activity test results suggest that Ag-Pd/Al2O3 shows a small activity loss in the presence of SO2 when using C2H5OH as a reductant. In situ DRIFTS spectra show that the activity loss originates from the formation of surface sulphate species on the Ag-Pd/Al2O3. The surface sulphate species formation inhibits the formation of nitrate, whereas hardly changes the partial oxidation of C2H5OH. Compared with the NOx reduction by C3H6, an obvious suppression of the surface sulphate species formation was observed by DRIFTS experiment when using C2H5OH as a reductant. This phenomenon reveals the better catalytic performance and strong SO2 tolerance of Ag-Pd/Al2O3-C2H50H system.

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NEW STABILIZERS WITH OPTIMAL MOLECULAR WEIGHT

Over 2 x 10(8) tons of polymers are produced every year, and a large portion of polymers faces the degradation problem. There are many effective methods to protect polymers against degradation and the addition of stabilizers to polymer remains the most convenient and effective way of enhancing polymer life and performance. In this article, a series of effective stabilizers with optimal molecular weight (MW), including common, monomeric and polymeric stabilizers (antioxidant and light stabilizer) were synthesized using isocyanation, controlled isocyanation, hydrosilylation, epoxide addition, macroreaction of stabilizing functional compounds and polymerization of monomeric stabilizers. The structure and performance of these new stabilizers were characterized by using IR, NMR, MS, UV-spectra, XPS and elemental analysis. The current development of stabilizer synthesis was also reviewed.

The Synthesis of Cyclic Amino Acids

Several cyclic amino acids (1-4) were synthesized from glycine. Isocyanate ester was prepared as the key intermediate and reacted with dibromoalkanes to afford the target compounds.

Polymerization of Phenyl Isocyanate by Divalent Samarium Complex (ArO)_2Sm(THF)_4 (ArO=2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenoxo)

Phenyl isocyanate was for the first time successfully polymerized by divalent samarium complex (ArO)2Sm(THF)4. The monomer concentration and temperatur affected the polymerization greatly.

Efficient Synthesis of 3,5,6,7-Tetrahydro-4H-cyclopenta [4,5] thieno [2,3-d] Pyrimidin-4-ones

The title compounds 3,5,6,7-tetrahydro-4H-cyclopenta[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4-ones（6） were synthesized by base catalytic reactions of secondary amines with carbodiimides 4, which were obtained from the aza-Wittig reaction of iminophosphoranes（3） with aromatic isocyanates.

Polymerization of n-Hexyl Isocyanate Initiated by Novel Rare Earth Tris(2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenolate)

The polymerization of n-hexyl isocyanate(HNCO) was carried out in the presence of a novel single initiator, rare earth tris(2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenolate)[Ln(OAr)_3]. The influences of reaction conditions such as the monomer concentration, the polymerization temperature and time, and the types of solvents on the polymerization of HNCO were studied. Polymerizations of phenyl, i-propyl, p-tolyl, n-butyl and n-octyl isocyanates with La(OAr)_3 were also examined.

Theoretical Study on the Reaction Mechanism of CH2F Radical with HNCO

The reaction mechanism of CH2F radical with HNCO was investigated by density functional theory （DFT） at the B3LYP/6-311＋＋G（d,p） level. The geometries of the reactants, the intermediates, the transition states and the products were optimized. The transition states were verified through the vibration analysis. The relative energies were calculated at the QCISD（T）/6-311＋＋G^＊＊//B3LYP/6-311＋＋G（d,p） level. Seven feasible reaction pathways of the reaction were studied. The results indicate that the pathway （5） is the most favorable to occur, so it is the main pathway of the reaction.

Efficient synthesis of 5,6-dihydrothieno[3′,2′:4,5]-thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4(3H)-ones via an iminophosphorane

5,6-Dihydrothieno[3＇,2＇：4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4（3H）-ones 6 were synthesized in yields of 71-87% by a consecutive method, which includes aza-Wittig reaction of iminophosphorane 3 with aromatic isocynate to give carbodiimide 4 and subsequent reaction of 4 with various amines, phenols or alcohols in the presence of catalytic amount of sodium ethoxide or solid potassium carbonate. 2009 Ming Wu Ding. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

Kinetics of water–isocyanate reaction in N,N-dimethylformamide

The uncatalyzed reaction of p-tolyl isocyanate(p-TI)with water in N,N-dimethylformamide(DMF)was investigated by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC).The reactions were carried out at different temperatures from 293 K to 323 K,using various molar ratios of water to p-TI.DMF,as a special amide,was proved to be an efficient catalyst for water–isocyanate reaction.Under the reaction conditions in this study,substituted urea was the only final product observed.An appreciable amount of intermediate p-toluidine was detected.Concentrations of the isocyanate group as well as the amine and urea were determined as a function of time.New kinetic equations were deduced for each of the substance on the basis of a multistep mechanism,instead of a simple second order reaction as usual.Kinetic constants were calculated using the software MATLAB.Furthermore,the effects of temperature and concentrations of reactants on the reaction rate and amine content were discussed.The activation energy of each step was also determined.