Influence of solubility parameter difference between monomer and porogen on structures of poly (acrylonitrile-styrene-divinylbenzene) resins

Phenylglyoxaldehyde-Functionalized Polymeric Sorbents for Urea Removal from Aqueous Solutions

For realization of a wearable artificial kidney based on regeneration of a small volume of dialysate, efficient urea removal from dialysate is a major challenge. Here a potentially suitable polymeric sorbent based on phenylglyoxaldehyde (PGA), able to covalently bind urea under physiological conditions, is described. Sorbent beads containing PGA groups were obtained by suspension polymerization of either styrene or vinylphenylethan-1-one (VPE), followed by modification of the aromatic groups of poly(styrene) and poly(VPE) into PGA. It was found that PGA-functionalized sorbent beads had maximum urea binding capacities of 1.4-2.2 mmol/g and removed ∼0.6 mmol urea/g in 8 h at 37 °C under static conditions from urea-enriched phosphate-buffered saline, conditions representative of dialysate regeneration. This means that the daily urea production of a dialysis patient can be removed with a few hundred grams of this sorbent which, is an important step forward in the development of a wearable artificial kidney.

Heterogeneous palladium SALOPHEN onto porous polymeric microspheres as catalysts for heck reaction

Catalysts based on porous polymeric microspheres were prepared from N,N′-Bis(3,3′-allyl-salicylidene)-o-phenylenediamine Pd(II) (PdAS) metallo-monomer, styrene (STY), and divinylbenzene (DVB) as co-monomers. The effects of the STY/PdAS mass ratio of co-monomers were investigated to synthesize the optimal catalyst. All the prepared materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), solid-state diffuse-reflectance UV Vis (DRS UV-Vis) spectrometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Increasing the PdAS content from 1 to 5 wt%, based on the mass feed of monomers, produced well-defined spherical polymer resins with particle diameters of ~200 μm and high surface areas (>500 m2/g). XPS spectra shown a unique Pd2+ signal associated with the PdAS complex immobilized on a porous resin matrix. The catalytic performances of porous polymer microspheres were evaluated for Heck reaction between iodobenzene and methyl acrylate to produce methyl cinnamate, giving up to 100 % selectivity for the trans-isomer. The resin with 5 wt% PdAS showed the best catalytic activity in methyl cinnamate synthesis. Finally, the best catalytic system was evaluated in octinoxate production producing the target product with the same levels of conversion and selectivity for trans-isomer as was detected for methyl cinnamate synthesis.