Upcycling of cellulosic textile waste with bacterial cellulose via Ioncell® technology.

Currently the textile industry relies strongly on synthetic fibres and cotton, which contribute to many environmental problems. Man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCF) can offer sustainable alternatives. Herein, the development of Lyocell-type MMCF using bacterial cellulose (BC) as alternative raw material in the Ioncell® spinning process was investigated. BC, known for its high degree of polymerization (DP), crystallinity and strength was successfully dissolved in the ionic liquid (IL) 1,5-diazabicyclo[4.3.0]non-5-enium acetate [DBNH][OAc] to produce solutions with excellent spinnability. BC staple fibres displayed good mechanical properties and crystallinity (CI) and were spun into a yarn which was knitted into garments, demonstrating the potential of BC as suitable cellulose source for textile production. BC is also a valuable additive when recycling waste cellulose textiles (viscose fibres). The high DP and Cl of BC enhanced the spinnability in a viscose/BC blend, consequently improving the mechanical performance of the resulting fibres, as compared to neat viscose fibres.

High-Quality Cellulosic Fibers Engineered from Cotton-Elastane Textile Waste.

Even small amounts of elastane in cotton-elastane blended textiles can prevent fiber-to-fiber recycling strategies in textile recycling. Herein, the selective separation of elastane from cotton blends was addressed by the aminolytic degradation of the synthetic component. Polar aprotic solvents were tested as elastane solvents, but side reactions impeded aminolysis with some of them. Aminolysis of elastane succeeded under mild conditions using dimethyl sulfoxide in combination with diethylenetriamine and 1,5-diazabicyclo[4.3.0]non-5-ene as a cleaving agent and catalyst, respectively. The analysis of the nitrogen content in the recovered cellulose fraction demonstrated that 2 h of reaction at 80 °C reduced the elastane content to values lower than 0.08%. The characterization of the recovered cellulose showed that the applied conditions did not affect the macromolecular properties of cellulose and maintained a cellulose I crystal structure. Degraded elastane products were recovered through precipitation with water. Finally, the cellulosic component was turned into new fibers by dry-jet wet spinning with excellent tensile properties.

Towards Tailored Dialdehyde Cellulose Derivatives: A Strategy for Tuning the Glass Transition Temperature.

The derivatization of dialdehyde cellulose (DAC) has received increasing attention in the development of sustainable thermoplastics. In this study, a series of dialcohol celluloses were generated by borohydride reduction, which exhibited glass transition temperature (Tg ) values ranging from 23 to 109 °C, depending on the initial degree of oxidation (DO) of the DAC intermediate. However, the DAC derivatives did not exhibit thermoplastic behavior when the DO of the modified DAC was below 26 %. The influence of introduced side chains was highlighted by comparing DAC-based thermoplastic materials obtained by either oximation or borohydride reduction. Our results provide insights into the generation of DAC-based thermoplastics and highlight a strategy for tailoring the Tg by adjusting the DO during the periodate oxidation step and selecting appropriate substituents in subsequent modifications.

Gamma-valerolactone biorefinery: Catalyzed birch fractionation and valorization of pulping streams with solvent recovery.

In this study, we propose a full gamma-valerolactone (GVL) organosolv biorefinery concept including the utilization of all pulping streams, solvent recovery, and preliminary material and energy balances. GVL is a renewable and non-toxic solvent that fractionates woody biomass. The silver birch chips were pulped (45-65 wt% GVL, 150 °C, 2 h) under a series of acid-catalyzed conditions (5-12 kg H2SO4/t), and the fully bleached pulp was spun into fibers by the IONCELL® process and knitted into the fabric. The dissolved lignin was precipitated by water from spent liquor (1:1) and processed into polyhydroxyurethane. Most of the dissolved hemicelluloses were in the form of xylose, therefore, the crystallization efficiency of xylose from spent liquor in the presence of residual GVL was studied. The GVL recovery rate in the lab column was 66%, however by increasing the number of equilibrium stages, 99% recovery could be achieved.

Efficient Isolation Method for Highly Charged Phosphorylated Cellulose Nanocrystals.

Phosphorylation of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) has remained a marginal activity despite the undisputed application potential in flame-retardant materials, sustainable high-capacity ion-exchange materials, or substrates for biomineralization among others. This is largely due to strenuous extraction methods prone to a combination of poor reproducibility, low degrees of substitution, disappointing yields, and impractical reaction sequences. Here, we demonstrate an improved methodology relying on the modification routines for phosphorylated cellulose nanofibers and hydrolysis by gaseous HCl to isolate CNCs. This allows us to overcome the aforementioned shortcomings and to reliably and reproducibly extract phosphorylated CNCs with exceptionally high surface charge (∼2000 mmol/kg) in a straightforward routine that minimizes water consumption and maximizes yields. The CNCs were characterized by NMR, ζpotential, conductometric titration, thermogravimetry, elemental analysis, wide-angle X-ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy.

The coupling of localised, vibrational modes - Probing OH-bands of organic molecules via a two dimensional Numerov approach.

In this article the extension of the grid-based Numerov approach to probe two coupled, localised vibrational modes is assessed. The theoretically obtained wave numbers are compared to experimental results for five increasingly complex organic molecules carrying two OH groups measured in gas-phase as well as carbon tetrachloride. By using an appropriate spacing of the associated potential energy grid a deviation of the predicted wave numbers with experiment of ≤1% is achieved for both the fundamental and the first overtone bands. In particular the calculated wave numbers of aliphatic species in vacuum underline the versatility of this approach. In addition, it is demonstrated that bicubic interpolation is a viable strategy to greatly reduce the required data points and thus, the computational effort. Comparison of predicted wave numbers obtained for different conformers with experimental data enables the identification of the most relevant conformer present in solution. Since especially the accurate calculation of overtone vibrations is known to be challenging in case of strongly anharmonic potentials such as OH bonds, the presented approach provides a particularly efficient route to study the properties of the associated overtone contribution under the influence of inter-mode coupling. This is due to the fact that the Numerov approach requires no assumption about form and composition of the vibrational wave functions. In addition, the presented method also provides one of the simplest routes to access combined excitations of the considered vibrational modes.

Syntheses and crystal structures of [IrIII{C(CHCO2Et)(dppm)2-κ4 P,C,C',P'}ClH]Cl·2.75CH2Cl2 and its derivatives, [IrIII{C(CHCO2Et)(dppm)2-κ4 P,C,C',P'}(CH2CO2Et)Cl]Cl·CH3OH·0.5H2O, [IrIII{C(CHCO2Et)(dppm)2-κ4 P,C,C',P'}Cl2]Cl·CH3OH·2H2O and [IrIII{C(CHCO2Et)(dppm)2-κ4 P,C,C',P'}(CH2CO2Et)(CO)]Cl2·2CH2Cl2·1.5H2O.

The common feature of the four iridium(III) salt complexes, (bis-{[(di-phenyl-phosphan-yl)meth-yl]di-phenyl-phosphanyl-idene}(eth-oxy-oxoethanyl-idene)methane-κ4 P,C,C',P')chlorido-hydridoiridium(III) chloride methyl-ene chloride 2.75-solvate (4), (bis-{[(di-phenyl-phosphan-yl)meth-yl]di-phenyl-phosphanyl-idene}(eth-oxy-oxoethanyl-idene)methane-κ4 P,C,C',P')chlorido-(eth-oxy-oxoethanido)iridium(III) chloride-methanol-water (1/1/0.5) (5), (bis-{[(di-phenyl-phosphan-yl)meth-yl]di-phenyl-phosphanyl-idene}(eth-oxy-oxoethanyl-idene)methane-κ4 P,C,C',P')di-chlorido-iridium(III) chloride-methanol-water (1/1/2) (6) and (bis-{[(di-phenyl-phosphan-yl)meth-yl]di-phenyl-phosphanyl-idene}(eth-oxy-oxoethanyl-idene)methane-κ4 P,C,C',P')carbon-yl(eth-oxy-oxoethanide)iridium(III) dichloride-meth-yl-ene chloride-water (1/2/1.5) (7) or in terms of their formulae [Ir(C55H50O2P4)ClH]Cl·2.75CH2Cl2 (4), [Ir(C4H7O2)(C55H50O2P4)Cl]Cl·CH3OH·0.5H2O (5), [Ir(C55H50O2P4)Cl2]Cl·CH3OH·2H2O (6) and [Ir(C4H7O2)(C55H50O2P4)(CO)]Cl2·2CH2Cl2·1.5H2O (7) is a central IrIII atom coordin-ated in a distorted octa-hedral fashion by a PCCP ligand system and two additional residues, such as chlorides, a hydride, a carbonyl or an alkyl unit. Thereby, the PCP pincer ligand system and the residue trans to the carbodi-phospho-rane (CDP) C atom surround the iridium(III) transition metal in the equatorial plane under the formation of two five-membered dissimilar chelate rings [C-CCDP-P (4, 5, 6 and 7) for the first ring: 120.2 (3), 121.9 (5), 111.2 (3) and 121.7 (2) °; for the second ring: 112.1 (3), 113.5 (5), 120.5 (3) and 108.3 (2)°]. A cyclo-propane-like heterocycle is positioned approximately orthogonal (84.21-88.85°) to the equatorial plane, including an alkyl-idene bridge connecting the IrIII atom and the coordinating CDP atom of the PCP subunit. In general, the neutral PCCP ligand system coordinates the metal in a tetra-dentate way via three Lewis acid/base bonds and by an alkyl-idene unit presenting strengthened inter-actions. In all the crystal structures, (disordered) solvent mol-ecules are present in the voids of the packed mol-ecules that inter-act with the positively charged complex and its chloride counter-ion(s) through weak hydrogen bonding.

Crystal structures of the [IrIII{C(C4H6O2)(dppm)-κ3 P,C,O}(dppm)H](CF3O3S)2 and [IrIII{C(C4H6O2)(dppm)-κ2 P,C}(CO)(dppm)H](CF3O3S)2 phosphorus ylide complexes, generated by a Wittig-type carbon-carbon coupling reaction of a carbodiphospho-rane PCP ligand system.

The reaction of [IrIII{C(dppm)2-κ3 P,C,P'}ClH(NH3C2)]Cl with ethyl diazo-acetate, a well known C=C coupling reagent, leads to the formation of a C=C unit, accompanied by N2 abstraction, reorganization of a dppm subunit and, considered as a whole, to the transformation of the PCP pincer carbodi-phospho-rane system to a phospho-rus ylide ligand. After removal of the halogenides, the iridium center is stabilized by the carbonyl O atom through the formation of a five-membered chelate ring. A PCO pincer ligand system is thereby generated, which coordinates the iridium(III) atom threefold in a facial manner. The phospho-rus electron-donor atoms and the ylide carbon atom of the resulting [IrIII{C(C4H6O2)(dppm)-κ3 P,C,O}(dppm)H](CF3O3S)2 complex, also termed as [bis-(di-phenyl-phosphan-yl)methane]({[(di-phenyl-phosphan-yl)meth-yl]di-phenyl-phosphanyl-idene}(eth-oxy-oxoethanyl-idene)methanyl-idene-κ3 P,C,O)hydridoiridium(III) bis-(tri-fluoro-methane-sulfonate), are in plane and the hydrido ligand and the carbonyl O atom are located trans to each other, perpendicular to the meridional plane. The addition of carbon monoxide causes a replacement of the carbonyl O atom of the acetate subunit by a carbonyl ligand, thereby creating [bis-(di-phenyl-phosphan-yl)methane]-carbon-yl({[(di-phenyl-phosphan-yl)meth-yl]di-phenyl-phosphanyl-idene}(eth-oxy-oxoethanyl-idene)methanyl-idene-κ2 P,C}hydridoiridium(III) bis-(tri-fluoro-methane-sulfonate)-di-chloro-methane-ethyl acetate (6/2/3) or, more simply, [IrIII{C(C4H6O2)(dppm)-κ2 P,C}(CO)(dppm)H](CF3O3S)2·0.33CH2Cl2·0.5C4H8O2. One tri-fluoro-meth-ane-sulfonate counter-ion of 3 shows positional disorder in a 2:1 ratio. Complex 4 shows pseudo-merohedral twinning (matrix: 0 0 0 0 1 0 1). The di-chloro-methane solvent is disordered over two orientations with occupation factors of 0.5 and 0.166.

Crystal structures of four new iridium complexes, each containing a highly flexible carbodi-phos-phorane PCP pincer ligand.

Compound [Ir(C8H12)(C51H45P4)]Cl2 or [Ir(cod)(CH(dppm)2-κ3P,C,P)]Cl2 (1a), was obtained from [IrCl(cod)]2 and the carbodi-phospho-rane (CDP) salt [CH(dppm)2]Cl [where cod = cyclo-octa-1,5-diene and dppm = bis-(di-phenyl-phosphino)methane]. Treatment of 1a with thallium(I) tri-fluoro-methane-sulfonate [Tl(OTf)] and subsequent crystallization gave complex [Ir(C8H12)(C51H45P4)](OTf)2·CH3CO2C2H5·CH2Cl2 or [Ir(cod)(CH(dppm)2-κ3P,C,P)](OTf)2·CH3CO2C2H5·CH2Cl2 (1b) [systematic name: (cyclo-octa-1,5-diene)(1,1,3,3,5,5,7,7-octa-phenyl-1,7-diphospha-3,5-di-phospho-niaheptan-4-yl)iridium(I) bis-(tri-fluoro-methane-sulfonate)-ethyl acetate-di-chloro-methane (1/1/1)]. This five-coordinate iridium(I) complex cation adopts a trigonal-bipyramidal geometry with the CDP carbon and one cod double bond in axial sites. Compound 1b represents the first example of a non-meridional coordination of the PCP pincer ligand [CH(dppm)2]+ with a P-Ir-P angle of 98.08 (2)°. Compound 2, [IrCl2H(C51H44P4)]·(CH3)2CO or [IrCl2H(C(dppm)2-κ3P,C,P)]·(CH3)2CO [systematic name: di-chlorido-hydrido(1,1,3,3,5,5,7,7-octa-phenyl-1,5λ5,7-triphospha-3-phospho-niahept-4-en-4-yl)iridium(III) acetone monosolvate], crystallizes as an acetone monosolvate. It is a six-coordinate IrIII coordination compound. Here, the PCP pincer ligand is coordinated in a meridional manner; one chlorido ligand is positioned trans to the carbon donor, the remaining two coordination sites being occupied by the second chlorido and a hydrido ligand trans to each other. Complex 3, [IrCl2H(C51H45P4)]Cl·5H2O or [IrCl2H(CH(dppm)2-κ3P,C,P)]Cl·5H2O [systematic name: di-chlorido-hydrido(1,1,3,3,5,5,7,7-octa-phenyl-1,7-diphospha-3,5-di-phospho-niaheptan-4-yl)iridium(III) chloride penta-hydrate], represents the conjugate CH acid of 2. The ligand [CH(dppm)2]+ is coordinated in a meridional manner. In the cationic six-coordinate IrIII complex 4, [IrClH(CO)(C51H44P4)]Cl·2CH3OH·H2O or [IrClH(CO)(C(dppm)2-κ3P,C,P)]Cl·2CH3OH·H2O [systematic name: carbonyl-chlorido-hydrido(1,1,3,3,5,5,7,7-octa-phenyl-1,5λ5,7-triphospha-3-phos-pho-niahept-4-en-4-yl)iridium(III) chloride-methanol-water (1/2/1)], the chlorido ligand is found in the plane defined by the Ir center and the meridional PCP ligand; the H and CO ligands are positioned axially to this plane and trans to each other.

Crystal structure of an iridium(III) complex of the [C(dppm)2] PCP pincer ligand system and its conjugate CH acid form.

After the successful creation of the newly designed PCP carbodi-phospho-rane (CDP) ligand [Reitsamer et al. (2012 ▸). Dalton Trans.41, 3503-3514; Stallinger et al. (2007 ▸). Chem. Commun. pp. 510-512], the treatment of this PCP pincer system with the transition metal iridium and further the analysis of the structures by single-crystal diffraction and by NMR spectroscopy were of major inter-est. Two different iridium complexes, namely (bis-{[(di-phenyl-phosphan-yl)meth-yl]di-phenyl-phosphanyl-idene}methane-κ3P,C,P')carbonyl-chlorido-hydridoiridium(III) chloride di-chloro-methane tris-olvate, [IrIII(CO){C(dppm)2-κ3P,C,P'}ClH]Cl·3CH2Cl2 (1) and the closely related (bis-{[(di-phenyl-phosphan-yl)meth-yl]di-phenyl-phosphanyl-idene}methanide(1+)-κ3P,C,P')carbonyl-chlorido-hy-dridoirid-ium(III) dichloride-hydro-chloric acid-water (1/2/5.5), [IrIII(CO){CH(dppm)2-κ3P,C,P')ClH]Cl}2 (2), have been designed and both complexes show a slightly distorted octa-hedral coordinated IrIII centre. The PCP pincer ligand system is arranged in a meridional manner, the CO ligand is located trans to the central PCP carbon and a hydride and chloride are located perpendicular above and below the P2C2 plane. With an Ir-CCDP distance of 2.157 (5) Å, an Ir-CO distance of 1.891 (6) Šand a quite short C-O distance of 1.117 (7) Å, complex 1 presents a strong carbonyl bond. Complex 2, the corresponding CH acid of 1, shows an additionally attached proton at the carbodi-phospho-rane carbon atom located anti-periplanar to the hydride of the metal centre. In comparison with complex 1, the Ir-CCDP distance of 2.207 (3) Šis lengthened and the Ir-C-O values indicate a weaker trans influence of the central carbodi-phospho-rane carbon atom.

Bacterial Catabolism of Biphenyls: Synthesis and Evaluation of Analogues.

A series of alkylated 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyls has been prepared on the gram scale by using an effective Directed ortho Metalation-Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling strategy. These compounds have been used to investigate the substrate specificity of the meta-cleavage dioxygenase BphC, a key enzyme in the microbial catabolism of biphenyl. Isolation and characterization of the meta-cleavage products will allow further study of related processes, including the catabolism of lignin-derived biphenyls.