Acetoacetate based thermosets prepared by dual-Michael addition reactions

A novel set of dual-curable multiacetoacetate-multiacrylate-divinyl sulfone ternary materials with versatile and manipulable properties are presented. In contrast to common dual-curing systems, the first stage polymer herein consists of a densely crosslinked, high Tg network as a result of base-catalyzed multiacetoacetate-divinyl sulfone Michael addition. A more flexible secondary network forms after base-catalyzed Michael addition of remaining multiacetoacetate to multiacrylate. Curing is truly sequential as the rates of the two Michael additions are significantly different. Curing kinetics were analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR). The materials at each curing stage were characterized using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and SEM. Although some phase separation was observed in certain formulations, the incompatibilities were minimized when the molar percentage of the acetoacetate-divinyl sulfone polymer network was above 75%. Furthermore, the environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) images of these materials show that the more flexible acetoacetate-acrylate phase is dispersed in the form of polymeric spheres within the rigid acetoacetate-divinyl sulfone matrix. This unique dual microstructure can potentially render these materials highly resilient in applications requiring densely crosslinked polymer architectures with enhanced toughnesPostprint (published version

Sequential curing of thiol-acetoacetate-acrylate thermosets by latent Michael addition reactions

Thiol-acetoacetate-acrylate ternary dual-curing thermosets were prepared by a sequential process consisting of thiol-Michael addition to acrylates at room temperature followed by Michael addition of acetoacetates to acrylates at moderately elevated temperature. The curing sequence can be controlled with the help of the different acidities of the protons on thiol and acetoacetate groups, the favorable pKa of the base used as catalyst and the self-limiting character of Michael additions. The latency of the curing steps can be regulated by selection of the right catalysts, temperature and curing conditions. The properties of the intermediate and final materials can be tuned by changing the structure of the monomers and the contribution of both Michael addition reactions.Postprint (author's final draft

Superelastic and pH-Responsive Degradable Dendrimer Cryogels Prepared by Cryo-aza-Michael Addition Reaction

Dendrimers exhibit super atomistic features by virtue of their well-defined discrete quantized nanoscale structures. Here, we show that hyperbranched amine-terminated polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer G4.0 reacts with linear polyethylene glycol (PEG) diacrylate (575 g/mol) via the aza-Michael addition reaction at a subzero temperature (−20 °C), namely cryo-aza-Michael addition, to form a macroporous superelastic network, i.e., dendrimer cryogel. Dendrimer cryogels exhibit biologically relevant Young’s modulus, high compression elasticity and super resilience at ambient temperature. Furthermore, the dendrimer cryogels exhibit excellent rebound performance and do not show significant stress relaxation under cyclic deformation over a wide temperature range (−80 to 100 °C). The obtained dendrimer cryogels are stable at acidic pH but degrade quickly at physiological pH through self-triggered degradation. Taken together, dendrimer cryogels represent a new class of scaffolds with properties suitable for biomedical applications

Synergistic catalysis: Michael addition of acyl-pyridines

A new diastereo- and enantioselective strategy for the functionalization of 2-acetyl-pyridine with α,β-unsaturated aldehydes has been investigated through synergistic catalysis. In particular, the aim of the work was to use cinnamaldehydes bearing different substituents on the phenyl group and to study its effect on the yield, conversion and stereoselectivity of the reaction. The reaction mechanism involves combined iminium ion and transition metal catalysis in a synergistic fashion and proceeds with two consecutives Michael additions, followed by final intramolecular aldol condensation to yield the formation of three new stereogenic carbons, with high to excellent stereoselectivities. The structures of the molecules obtained were fully characterized by NMR spectroscopy. After having assigned the relative configuration by NOE-NMR and 2D-COSY experiments, conformational analysis was performed by DFT calculations to find the most stable molecular conformations. The absolute configuration of each diastereoisomer was then eventually assigned by quantum mechanical simulations of the Electronic and Vibrational Circular Dichroism spectra

Thia-Michael Addition in Diverse Organic Synthesis

Thia-Michael addition reactions are significant for organic syntheses of important class of compounds to form C-S bond and its derivatives. It shows the prominent feature in medicinal field and material science. This review is focused on various methods towards thia-Michael adducts using Michael addition of sulfur containing electron rich species (Michael donor) on electron poor olefins (Michael acceptor). The C-S bond is ideal of making bioactive molecules generalized for the synthesis of various drug molecules and applied in field as insect sprays and polymer substances which are common for daily life. Due to the importance of C-S bond in recent years, novel methods for C-S bond formation were developed, which are more convenient with environment

Dual-functional materials via CCTP and selective orthogonal thiol-Michael addition/epoxide ring opening reactions

Poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) has been synthesised by cobalt catalysed chain transfer polymerisation (CCTP) yielding, in one step, polymers with two points for post polymerisation functionalisation; the activated terminal vinyl bond and in chain epoxide groups. Epoxide ring-opening and a combination of thiol-Michael addition and epoxide ring-opening has been used for the post-functionalisation with amines and thiols to prepare a range of functional materials

Synthesis of novel β-aminocyclobutanecarboxylic acid derivatives by a solvent-free aza-Michael addition and subsequent ring closure

Novel beta-aminocyclobutanecarboxylic acid derivatives were prepared via a sequential solvent-free aza-Michael addition of benzophenone imine across 3-halopropylidenemalonates and base-induced ring closure. These highly substituted cyclobutanedicarboxylic acid derivatives were subjected to a reactivity study which demonstrated the tendency of these donor-acceptor substituted four-membered rings to be converted into their corresponding ring-opened products

Asymmetric phase-transfer-catalyzed synthesis of five-membered cyclic gamma-Amino acid precursors

The first example of an intramolecular enantioselective Michael addition of nitronates onto conjugated systems utilizing a chiral phase-transfer catalyst is described. A range of five-membered gamma-nitro esters with up to three stereocentres have been prepared and the relative and absolute configurations proven by chemical and crystallographic methods. The products are rapidly obtained and are precursors to five-membered cyclic gamma-amino acids

Progress towards an Aza-Michael Addition to Ketones

The aza-Michael addition to unsaturated ketones under neutral to mildly basic condition is a difficult transformation due to the inherent unreactivity of ketones toward the addition of weak nucleophiles. This thesis reports on efforts to develop an environmentally friendly, stereoselective and low-cost organo-catalyzed aza-Michael reaction between unsaturated ketones and nitrogen nucleophiles, such as phthalimide, under neutral to mildly basic conditions using the most inexpensive chiral secondary amine catalyst, proline.1 Both proline and the organic base triethylamine were found to be catalytic in the testing platform of cyclohexen-2-one and phthalimide, and another testing platform of 4-hexen-3-one and phthalimide. Likewise, when screened against proline derivatives and imidazolines (all secondary amines), proline demonstrated the highest yield and enantioselectivity for aza-Michael Addition reactions to ketones. Triethylamine was also determined to be the optimal organic base co-catalyst, in terms of enantioselectivity. The yield and enantioselectivity both heavily depend upon the organic solvent used; indeed, the organic solvent acetonitrile was ideal for yield of the reactions, though with a low enantioselectivity; however, ethyl acetate demonstrated the highest enantioselectivity, but with a lower yield. The highest enantioselectivity observed was 80% ee