Design, Polymerization, and Properties of High-Performance Seed-Oil-Derived Lubricants

There is a significant amount of interest and research in seed-oil-derived lubricants because of elevated environmental consciousness among producers and consumers. While slowly making inroads into selected applications, performance deficits at low temperature and poor thermooxidative stability have consistently relegated seed oil derivatives to roles where biodegradability is paramount or where the performance requirements are relatively low. In this article, the structural attributes that result in seed-oil-derived lubricant properties are defined and quantified. Also, the seed oil triglyceride components are segregated, functionalized, and polymerized to provide a lubricant design that allows flexibility in defining the specified viscosity, while providing an improved low-temperature performance and removing the source of thermooxidative instability

Coupling Charge Reduction Mass Spectrometry to Liquid Chromatography for Complex Mixture Analysis

Electrospray ionization (ESI) of solution mixtures often generates complex mass spectra, even following liquid chromatography (LC), due to analyte multiple charging. Multiple charge state distributions can lead to isobaric interferences, mass spectral congestion, and ambiguous ion identification. As a consequence, data interpretation increases in complexity. Several charge reduction mass spectrometry (MS) approaches have been previously developed to reduce the average charge state of gaseous ions; however, all of these techniques have been restricted to direct infusion MS. In this study, synthetic polyols and surfactants separated by liquid chromatography and ionized by positive mode ESI have been subjected to polonium-210 α-particle radiation to reduce the average charge state to singly charged cations prior to mass analysis. LC/MS analysis of 5000 molecular weight poly­(ethylene glycol) (PEG5000) generated an average charge state of 5.88+; whereupon, liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization/charge reduction/mass spectrometry (LC/CR/MS) analysis of PEG 5000 generated an average charge state of 1.00+. The PEG5000 results demonstrated a decrease in spectral complexity and enabled facile interpretation. Other complex solution mixtures representing specific MS challenges (i.e., competitive ionization and isobaric ion overlap) were explored and analyzed with LC/CR/MS to demonstrate the benefits of coupling LC to CR/MS. For example, polyol information related to initiator, identity/relative amount of monomer, and estimated molecular weight was characterized in random and triblock ethylene oxide/propylene oxide polyols using LC/CR/MS. LC/CR/MS is a new analytical technique for the analysis of complex mixtures

Developing Efficient Nucleophilic Fluorination Methods and Application to Substituted Picolinate Esters

This report describes nucleophilic fluorination of 3 and 5-substituted picolinate ester substrates using potassium fluoride in combination with additive promoters. Agents such as tributylmethylammonium or tetraphenylphosphonium chloride were among the best additives investigated giving improved fluorination yields. Additionally, the choice of additive promoters could influence the potential formation of new impurities such as alkyl ester exchange. Other parameters explored in this study include additive stoichiometry, temperature influence on additive degradation, solvent selection, product isolation by solvent extraction, and demonstration of additive recycling