Electrochemically mediated atom transfer radical polymerization (eATRP) of styrene was studied in detail by using CuBr2/TPMA (TPMA = tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine) as a catalyst. Redox properties various Cu(II) species were investigated CH3CN, dimethylformamide (DMF), and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) both the absence presence 50% (v/v) styrene. This investigation together with preliminary eATRP exper...

Polymers, either by deliberate design or by virtue of their mode of synthesis, are inherently inhomogeneous. Commercial polymers may be comprised of four or more monomeric building blocks, and these chemically-distinct groups are expected to selectively partition and interact with the interfaces. The objective of this project is to understand on a molecular level how changes in the interfacial ...

Bisphenol A, a monomer of polycarbonate plastics, disturbed the conversion pathway of the amino acid tryptophan to the vitamin nicotinamide. The conversion ratio of tryptophan to nicotinamide was reduced to 1/15 by feeding a diet containing 1% bisphenol A. A putative disturbing reaction is kynurenine-->3-hydroxykynurenine, which is catalyzed by kynurenine monohydroxylase. This is an FAD-enzyme ...

Styrene monomer is a high volume chemical used chiefly in production of polystyrene. A clinical survey of 493 production workers was undertaken at the oldest and largest monomer production, polymerization, and extrusion facility in the U.S. Relative exposure durations and levels were obtained from occupational histories. Significant differences between the high and low exposure groups were foun...

Without intervention, it has been found that surface-initiated photoiniferter-mediated photopolymerization (SI-PMP) of methyl methacrylate suffers from irreversible termination, which leads to cessation of polymerization. These irreversible termination reactions were successfully reduced by preaddition of tetraethylthiuram disulfide (TED). The poly(methyl methacrylate) layers were also reinitia...

Using styrene as raw material, potassium persulfate as an initiator, beta-cyclodextrin as a stabilizer, polystyrene microspheres were successfully prepared with nice monodisperse feature by means of soap-free emulsion polymerization method. Experimental studies were performed in detail to check the effect of the synthesis process of the microspheres, the stabilizer dosage, monomer concentration...

Pseudomonas putida CA-3 is capable of accumulating medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (MCL-PHAs) when growing on the toxic pollutant styrene as the sole source of carbon and energy. In this study, we report on the molecular characterization of the metabolic pathways involved in this novel bioconversion. With a mini-Tn5 random mutagenesis approach, acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) was identified a...

BACKGROUND Styrene is an important building-block petrochemical and monomer used to produce numerous plastics. Whereas styrene bioproduction by Escherichia coli was previously reported, the long-term potential of this approach will ultimately rely on the use of hosts with improved industrial phenotypes, such as the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. RESULTS Classical metabolic evolution was firs...

This mini-review focuses on recent advances on the synthesis, structure, and characterization of allyl-based rare earth organometallic complexes, with emphasis on their ability to catalyze the polymerization of non-polar monomers such as conjugated dienes, styrene, and their related copolymerization.

Living anionic polymerization of 4-diphenylphosphino styrene (DPPS) achieved well-defined homopolymers, poly(DPPS-b-S) styrenic block copolymers, and poly(I-b-DPPS) diene-based diblock copolymers with predictable molecular weights and narrow polydispersities. In situ FTIR spectroscopy monitored the anionic polymerization of DPPS and tracked monomer consumption for kinetic analysis. Post-alkylat...