Evaluation of alternative solvents in common amide coupling reactions : replacement of dichloromethane and N,N-dimethylformamide

A range of alternative solvents have been evaluated within amidation reactions employing common coupling reagents with a view to identifying suitable replacements for dichloromethane and N,N-dimethylformamid

Photo-induced copper-mediated polymerization of methyl acrylate in continuous flow reactors

Photo-induced copper-mediated radical polymerization of methyl acrylate (MA) is carried out in DMSO at 15 °C in a tubular photo-flow reactor as well as in a glass-chip based microreactor. Polymerization reactions proceed rapidly to approximately 90% monomer conversion within 20 minutes of reactor residence time. Control of reactions is high as evidenced by ideal polymerization kinetics, low dispersities of the obtained polymers (in the range of 1.1) and linear evolution of number average molecular weights during polymerization reactions. Poly(MA) with average molecular weights between a few hundred and ∼5000 g mol−1 was obtained under retention of pristine end group fidelity. Besides homopolymers, block copolymers can also be successfully synthesized and poly(methyl acrylate)-b-poly(butyl acrylate) block copolymers with a similar low dispersity are obtained. Reactions proceed under homogeneous reaction conditions. This feature allows the reaction to be carried out in milli- and also in microflow devices. In both cases, equally good control is achieved with only minimal adaptation of the reaction protocol, underpinning the simplicity and fast adaptability of the protocol to different flow reactors

Regulation of the FT2 gene in European aspen

A genomic region containing the PtFT2 gene has previously been shown to be involved in the adaptation of Populus tremula (European aspen) to different daylengths. In this study regulatory elements of the gene, which is responsible for growth maintenance and inhibition of bud set, was investigated. The phenotypic and genetic effects of deleting predicted enhancer regions (PER)s, located in the PtFT2 genomic region and hypothesized to be involved in regulation of PtFT2, were analyzed. Plants with one PER upstream of the PtFT2 deleted and plants with one PER downstream of the gene deleted were grown in long day conditions followed by short day conditions. Expression of PtFT2 and traits related to growth cessation and bud set were measured. Indications of a down regulated gene expression and changes in growth cessation and other phenotypic traits were observed. Furthermore, a bioinformatic analysis of the PERs, to find conserved binding sites for potential homologous TFs present in Arabidopsis thaliana, was carried out. Homologous binding sites were found and the TFs binding to them in A. thaliana were involved in flowering, flower development and phase transitions. Finally, an experiment investigating gibberellins (GA)s effect on growth in Populus tremula x tremuloides (hybrid aspen) was performed as it can affect growth cessation. GA treatment counteracted growth cessation, slowed growth and bud set in hybrid aspen plants with PtFT2 deleted. This implies that gibberellin can affect growth cessation independently of PtFT2

Data Governance to Support Business Needs A Study with GKN Aerospace Engines

Data governance is an increasingly relevant topic considering the growing global datasphere. Mishandling data can have risks in the form of leaking sensitive data and missed benefits from high data quality. Companies are struggling to implement successful data governance since it is hard to convey the value of data governance to chief executives, there is insufficient cooperation between business functions and IT functions, and there is a lack of data literacy. The purpose of this study is to analyse how organisations can provide conditions for data governance initiatives to succeed. A qualitative approach was used because of the complex nature of data governance. The data collected were both from a literature study, which resulted in a frame of reference, and an interview study with different experts. A majority of the interviewees were done at GKN Aerospace, also the idea-provider for this study. GKN Aerospace is currently looking for ways to improve their data governance. The frame of reference includes scientific articles about data governance and its success factors, frameworks and taxonomies, change management, communication within organisations and portrayal of value, cross-functional collaboration as well as theory about Generative AI and external factors. Besides scientific articles, business reviews and consulting reports have been used to get the latest insights about the subject and also a more practical perspective from people working in the field. The study has found that conveying the value of data governance to decision makers, increasing data literacy, encouraging change, and collaborating for data governance strategy formulation are all central for data governance initiatives to succeed. Conveying value should be done using KPIs, highlighting concrete use cases of data governance, and finally, employing a translator e.g. a Chief Data Officer. To increase data literacy and encourage change it is central to create a common vocabulary and understanding of data governance. Collaboration for data governance strategy formulation is enabled by decentralised data asset ownership for increased responsibility, a unified view of what data is strategically important, and a flexible data strategy that is business oriented

Polymer Synthesis in Continuous Flow Reactors

A variety of polymerizations has long been performed in continuous flow reactors on an industrial scale; comparatively, on smaller scales, continuous polymerization methods have only gained significant attention in recent years. Yet, within the last decade, the field has moved from the rare occurrence of flow reactors to their abundant use today. A wide variety of polymer reactions have been performed in a continuous fashion on small and intermediate scales. The advantages of applying flow chemistry principles for polymer reactions include increased reproducibility and synthetic precision, significant increases in reaction performances for photochemical reactions, the ability to couple reactors to create complex materials in a single reactor pass, as well as the unique combination of online monitoring and machine learning. In this review we give a comprehensive overview of polymer reactions being carried out in continuous flow reactors to date. The development of the field is discussed, concluding with the most recent examples on automated polymer synthesis, reactor telescoping and nanoparticle synthesis. Finally, the design of flow reactors is discussed to help newcomers contribute to the current and future developments in the field

Online tracing of molecular weight evolution during radical polymerization via high-resolution FlowNMR spectroscopy

High-resolution FlowNMR was coupled to a continuous flow reactor to monitor polymer molecular weight evolution online by diffusion ordered NMR spectroscopy. Polymers were synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization in continuous flow. The setup allows to target various polymer chain lengths in a dynamic manner without requiring additional purification or sample preparation. Obtaining molecular weight information in this manner is shown to be more accurate than classical SEC analysis at comparable measurement times, with relative errors around 5%

All-aqueous continuous-flow RAFT dispersion polymerisation for efficient preparation of diblock copolymer spheres, worms and vesicles

We report the scalable, all-aqueous synthesis of polyIJdimethylacrylamide)–polyIJdiacetone acrylamide) (PDMAm–PDAAm) diblock copolymer spheres, worms and vesicles by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) aqueous dispersion polymerisation in a low-cost continuous-flow (CF) reactor. A transient state kinetic profiling method using a 5 mL reactor coil indicated a considerably faster rate than the equivalent batch reaction. Higher throughput was subsequently demonstrated by employing a 20 mL coil reactor for the synthesis of a 135 g, 30% w/w batch of PDMAm113 macromolecular chain transfer agent (macro-CTA) at 98% conversion. This was used without further purification to polymerise DAAm in a CF reactor. During this polymerisation, the chains underwent polymerisation-induced self-assembly (PISA) producing block copolymer spheres. This reaction also proceeded faster than in batch, and the high resolution kinetics enabled clear observation of the rate enhancement which is characteristic of PISA systems. GPC studies indicated the formation of a copolymer with low molar mass dispersity and complete blocking efficiency, despite the high conversion achieved during the precursor macro-CTA synthesis. It was subsequently demonstrated that the PDMAm113 macro-CTA could be used to prepare PDMAm113–PDAAmx block copolymer spheres (where x = 50, 100 and 200) with systematically increasing particle diameters. Finally, by reducing the PDMAm macro-CTA DP to 50 and increasing total solids to 20% w/w, it was possible to prepare worms and vesicles in the tubular reactor by tailoring the residence time to achieve specific degrees of polymerisation of the PDAAm block