From Scratch Closure to Electrolyte Barrier Restoration in Self-Healing Polyurethane Coatings.

The effects of the soft block fraction and H-bond state in thermoplastic polyurethanes on autonomous entropy-driven scratch closure and barrier restoration are studied. To this aim, comparable polyurethanes with different segmentation states are applied as organic coatings on plain carbon steel plates, scratched under very well-controlled conditions, and the scratch closure and sealing kinetics are studied in detail. The scratch closure is measured optically, while the barrier restoration is probed by the accelerated cyclic electrochemical technique (ACET). Scratch closure, attributed to entropic elastic recovery (EER), is followed in a marked two-step process by barrier restoration governed by local viscous flow and the state of the interfacial hydrogen bonding. Polyurethanes with a lower soft phase fraction lead to a higher urea/urethane ratio, which in turn influences the healing efficiency of each healing step. Interestingly, softer polyurethanes leading to efficient crack closure were unable to sufficiently restore barrier properties. The present work highlights the critical role of the soft/hard block and urea/urethane H-bond state content on crack closure and barrier restoration of anticorrosive organic coatings and points at design rules for the design of more efficient corrosion-protective self-healing polyurethanes.

Chiral Catalyst-Directed Dynamic Kinetic Diastereoselective Acylation of Anomeric Hydroxyl Groups and a Controlled Reduction of the Glycosyl Ester Products.

A catalytic method is developed for the diastereoselective acylation of the anomeric hydroxyl group in diverse carbohydrates to form either α- or ß-anomeric esters. While exclusive formation of the ß-isomer was observed in most sugar substrates with one enantiomer of the chiral catalyst, moderate to high α-selectivity was obtained by using the other enantiomer of the chiral catalyst. The resulting α- and ß-anomeric esters have very different reactivity toward a reduction reaction.

Rhodium-Catalyzed Intermolecular [5+1] and [5+2] Cycloadditions Using 1,4-Enynes with an Electron-Donating Ester on the 3-Position.

Various 3-acyloxy-1,4-enynes could be employed in rhodium-catalyzed intermolecular [5+1] and [5+2] cycloadditions with CO or alkynes, respectively. The rate of these cycloadditions could be accelerated significantly by using 1,4-enynes with an electron-donating ester on the 3-position. The scope of rhodium-catalyzed [5+1] and [5+2] cycloadditions were examined by using 1,4-enynes bearing an electron-donating ester.